The prevention and management of venomous snakebite in the world's mountains present unique challenges. This paper presents a series of practical, clinically sound recommendations for management of venomous snakebite in a mountain environment. The authors performed an extensive review of current literature using search engines and manual searches. They then fused the abundant knowledge of snake...

Snake venoms are mixtures of numerous proteinacious components that exert diverse functional activities on a variety of physiological targets. Because the toxic constituents found in venom vary from species to species, snakebite victims can present with a variety of life-threatening pathologies related to the neurotoxic, cytotoxic and haemotoxic effects of venom. Of the 1·8 million people enven...

Four thousand and seventy eight cases of snakebite, occurring between January and December 2000, were analysed for clinical and epidemiological features. Cases of about 379 had features of envenoming and 81 died. All the victims with systemic envenoming had neurotoxicity. No case with coagulopathy was recorded. Snakebite was more frequent between the ages of 10 and 40 years (76%) and in males (...

UNLABELLED In 2001, a new antivenin was introduced to the United States and became widely available in the snakebite season of 2002. We investigated what impact this may have had on snakebite treatment and medical outcome. METHOD The study used a retrospective review of all snakebites to humans reported to the National Poison Center Database System from 2000 to 2007. RESULTS During the 8 ye...

Results of an ethnopharmacognostic study of snakebite treatments in eastern Nicaragua are presented. Data and specimens were collected during several years of field studies. Field work consisted of plant collecting trips and interviews of snakedoctors. The annual mortality from snakebites in eastern Nicaragua is about 25% and most bites are caused by the fer-de-lance (Bothrops asper). The vascu...

Recent reports in the lay press have suggested that bites by rattlesnakes in the last several years have been more severe than those in the past. The explanation, often citing physicians, is that rattlesnakes are evolving more toxic venom, perhaps in response to anthropogenic causes. We suggest that other explanations are more parsimonious, including factors dependent on the snake and factors a...

OBJECTIVES To determine the outcome, seasonal variation, and death pattern of snakebite cases admitted at the tertiary health care centre in the last 10 years. METHODS This was a record-based retrospective descriptive study at the Dr Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospital in Vazirabad, a tertiary health care centre in Maharashtra, India. RESULTS Out of 5 639 admitted snak...

A bite from a venomous snake is a medical emergency involving not only the affected site but also multiple organ systems. Rapid transport of a snakebite victim to a medical facility is paramount. Management decisions must be based on close clinical monitoring of the potentially erratic envenomation syndrome. Because of the many variables inherent in the management of snakebite victims, consulta...

PURPOSE Snakebite is an emergency which causes local symptoms such as pain and edema around the bite. Systemic symptoms may also develop, such as dizziness or renal failure, and may even cause death. The purpose of this research was to assess the validity and safety of snakebite protocol for surgery when treating snakebite patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS Retrospective research was performed o...