Camel-related injuries: prospective study of 212 patients.
BACKGROUND
Camel-related injuries have been less well studied than other animal-related injuries. We aimed to study prospectively the incidence, mechanism, distribution of injury, and outcome of patients admitted to hospital with camel-related injuries in Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates.


METHODS
All patients who were admitted to Al-Ain Hospital with a camel-related injury were prospectively studied during the period of October 2001 to January 2010. Patient's demography, time of injury, mechanism of injury, and distribution and severity of injury were studied.


RESULTS
A total of 212 patients, all male, with a median age of 28 years (5-89 years) were studied. The estimated incidence of hospitalized camel-related injured patients in Al-Ain City was 6.88 per 100,000 population per year. Camel kicks were most common (36.8 %) followed by a fall from a camel (26.4 %) and camel bites (25.0 %). Camel kicks and falling from a camel were more common during the hot month of August, and camel bites were more common during the rutting season (November to February). Patients with a kick-related injury had a significantly higher rate of maxillofacial fractures compared with other mechanisms. Spinal injuries occurred significantly more often in vehicle occupants who collided with camels compared with other mechanisms (3/7 compared with 7/205, p = 0.0022, Fisher's exact test). Twelve patients (5.7 %) were admitted to the intensive care unit. The mean hospital stay was 8.6 days (1-103 days). Two patients died (overall mortality 1 %).


CONCLUSIONS
Understanding the biomechanisms and patterns of injury and correlating them with the behavior of the camel is important for identification and prevention of camel-related injuries.
Trauma Group, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, PO Box 17666, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates. fabuzidan@uaeu.ac.ae
Fikri M
FM
Abu-Zidan
Ashraf F
AF
Hefny
Hani O
HO
Eid
Masoud O
MO
Bashir
Frank J
FJ
Branicki
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D002162:Camelus; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D055815:Young Adult