The Effectiveness of Antivenin in Treating Snake Bites Resulting in Minimal Clinical Symptoms
Journal of the Korean Society of Emergency Medicine
;
: 577-583, 2007.
Article
in Korean
| WPRIM
| ID: wpr-159106
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
Serious complications from snake bite envenomization are relatively rare in Korea. According to standrad treatment guidelines for local and systemic injuries, antivenin is not recommended for snake bite cases when victims show minimal clinical symptoms. However, there are no published stidies about the effectiveness of antivenin treatment in such cases in Korea. In order to provide actual documentation to support a standard for treatment, we evaluated the effectiveness of antivenin use by comparing clinical outcomes in snake bite patients exhibiting minimal clinical symptoms (traditional snake bite severity grades 0 and I).METHODS:
We retrospectively reviewed 140 snake bite cases of patients with minimal clinical symptoms who visited the emergency departments of Chungnam National University Hospital, Cheonan Medical Center, and Chungnam Seosan Medical Center in Korea from January 2000 to December 2006. We categorized the patients into antivenin (group 1) and non-antivenin (group 2) treatment groups. We compared clinical outcomes and characteristics of the two groups.RESULTS:
Neither demographic factors nor clinical outcomes showed statistical significance between the groups.CONCLUSION:
In case of snake bite victims in Korea, antivenin treatment should not generally recommended as treatment for victims exhibiting minimlal clinical symptoms.
Full text:
Available
Index:
WPRIM (Western Pacific)
Main subject:
Snake Bites
/
Snakes
/
Antivenins
/
Demography
/
Retrospective Studies
/
Treatment Outcome
/
Emergency Service, Hospital
/
Korea
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Practice guideline
/
Observational study
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
Korean
Journal:
Journal of the Korean Society of Emergency Medicine
Year:
2007
Type:
Article
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS