Bullfighting Injuries: Gore to the groin

Bullfighting injuries to humans tend to cluster in certain places, explains this survey:

“Matador Versus Taurus: Bull Gore Injury,” Mark Sheldon Lloyd, Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, vol. 86, 2004, pp. 3–5. (Thanks to James Harkin for bringing this to our attention.) The author [pictured here], at Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, West Sussex, UK, reports:

“Bull fighting is a reality and the injuries sustained by the matador cause a bizarre pattern of injury that the trauma surgeon must appreciate since they are inflicted in unique circumstances. This article highlights the mechanism of a bull gore injury, the pattern of wounds, and the most appropriate management…. In bull gore injury due to bull fighting, the thigh and lower leg accounts for 50% of all wounds….

“The second commonest site of bull gore injury in the matador is the perineal area. Scrotal avulsion often requires plastic surgical reconstruction.”

Here’s further, penetrating detail from the study: