Spectrum of Bull Gore Injuries Presenting to the Emergency Department: Our 2-Year Experience from a Tertiary Care Hospital in South India

Abstract

Bull gore injuries are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in rural India, where people make their living rearing live stalk. There is also a significant rise in bull gore injuries following the festival of “Jallikattu” celebrated in southern India. This study was done to improve the understanding of the mode, severity and outcome of such victims. We conducted a retrospective descriptive analysis of victims suffering from bull gore injuries presenting to our Emergency Department (ED), from January 2017 to December 2018. During the study period, a total of 129 patients, with a mean age of 42.10 years, presented to the ED. There was a male predominance noted of 71.3%. According to our ED triage protocol, majority of the victims (60.5%) were triaged to priority 2. Most of the priority 1 patients suffered mild to moderate head injury or penetrating trauma to abdomen or thorax or both. Perineal injuries were noted in 11 patients, and visceral injuries (liver, kidney, spleen, bowel) were seen in 4 patients. The trauma specialities that were involved were trauma-general surgery 49 (38%), orthopaedics 30 (23.2%), plastic surgery 21 (16.3%), neurosurgery 19 (14.8%), and cardiothoracic surgery 11 (8.5%). About one third (32.6%) required hospital admission, and 60.5% of the victims were discharged from the ED after receiving primary care. Overall 21.8% victims had to undergo major surgical interventions. There was only one fatality and the rest were discharged in a stable condition. Management of bull gore injury is a challenge that requires multidisciplinary and well-coordinated approach for a successful outcome.