Donkey Bite Leading to a Catastrophic Outcome: Bilateral Visual Loss

Abstract

In this report we present a case of severe facial injury due to a donkey bite. Immediate repair with surgical flaps was performed. No significant complication was observed at the time of surgery or during follow up and the result was acceptable. Animal bites are relatively frequent and most often are done by dogs. Besides dogs, other animals such as cats, horses and donkeys may be responsible for this type of injuries. Although donkey bites to the facial area are very rare, they can cause severe and life-threatening injuries. Early management of facial injuries caused by animal bites is acceptable nowadays and guarantees satisfactory outcome.

A Rare Presentation of Donkey Bites Involving the Cheek and Ear: A Case Report and Literature Review

“…This occurrence of donkey bites in these cases is, hypothetically, justifiable given their inability to defend themselves from any attacks or for doing something that can provoke these animals [10]. Reported donkey bites can involve various body parts, including the face (five cases) [9,[12][13][14], the neck (six cases) [15][16][17], extremities (six cases) [13,16,18,19], the ear (one case) [13], the scalp (three cases) [11] or the penis (two cases) [19,20]. Our case came to the emergency department with rather a rare presentation involving the cheek and ear, which are rarely reported in the literature.…”

“…Cases of animal bites have only been reported in the extremes of age (very young or very old). Among the 20 cases reported in the literature, the age ranged from five [ 11 ] to 76 [ 12 ]. This occurrence of donkey bites in these cases is, hypothetically, justifiable given their inability to defend themselves from any attacks or for doing something that can provoke these animals [ 10 ].…”

“…Reported donkey bites can involve various body parts, including the face (five cases) [ 9 , 12 - 14 ], the neck (six cases) [ 15 - 17 ], extremities (six cases) [ 13 , 16 , 18 , 19 ], the ear (one case) [ 13 ], the scalp (three cases) [ 11 ] or the penis (two cases) [ 19 , 20 ]. Our case came to the emergency department with rather a rare presentation involving the cheek and ear, which are rarely reported in the literature.…”