Human Bites eMedicine Emergency

Description: Human bite wounds have a notorious reputation, which is mostly based on one injury, the closed-fist injury. Human bites in other areas pose no greater risk than animal bites. Three general types of injuries can lead to complications: (1) closed-fist injury, (2) chomping injury to the finger, and (3) puncture-type wounds about the head caused by clashing with a tooth. Otherwise, the general principles of contaminated wound management apply to human bite wounds.
Synonyms and related keywords: human bites, human bite wound, closed-fist injury, chomping injury, puncture-type wound, infected human bite wounds, bite wounds, bite injury
Author: Robert M McNamara, MD 2007 Updated 2010