• Haci Mehmet Caliskan, Zamir Kemal Erturk, Metin Ocak, and Burak Celik.
• From the Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical Faculty, Ahi Evran University, Kirsehir, Turkey.
• Ann Saudi Med. 2020 May 1; 40 (3): 219-226.

BackgroundThe Feast of Sacrifice is a significant annual religious festival in Muslim countries. In these festivals, thousands of animals are usually sacrificed by inexperienced individuals. Thus, many injuries occur during sacrificing of animals.ObjectivesDescribe injuries related to animal sacrifice or meat processing.DesignCross-sectional descriptive study.SettingsThree hospitals in different cities of Turkey.Subjects And MethodsSeverity and type of injuries that occur during animal sacrifice or meat processing after the sacrifice and hospital costs.Main Outcome MeasuresIdentification and classification of sacrifice related injuries.Sample Size301 injured individuals.ResultsThe mean age of the patients was 42.5 (14.8) years and 83.1% of the subjects were male. Most (90.0%) injuries were penetrating injuries and 10.0% were blunt traumas. Upper and lower extremity injuries were identified in 77.4% and 17.9% of cases, respectively. Almost half of the injuries were on the left hand (49.8%). Almost all (96.6%) cases were treated and discharged from emergency services. Median hospital cost per patient was 103.14 Turkish Liras (35.95-852.66 Turkish Liras) (19.53 USD [6.80-161.48 USD]).ConclusionsEven though injuries related to animal sacrifice are usually caused by minor sharp objects, they can be severe and life threatening on rare occasions. To minimize the injuries that may occur during this period, public education and more convenient sacrifice centers may be helpful.LimitationsSmall sample, single country, and short duration of the study.Conflict Of InterestNone.

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