A Comparative Study on the Clinical Features and Complications of Snake Bite Patients in Urban and Rural Areas / 農村醫學 地域保健

ABSTRACT

Purpose@#The purpose of this study is to compare the clinical features and complications of snake bite patients in urban and rural areas. @*Methods@#A retrospective study was conducted on patients over 18 years of age who were hospitalized for snake bites from January 2013 to December 2019. Patients were categorized into urban and rural groups according to their respective locations at the time of the snake bite and the clinical characteristics and complications of the two patient groups were researched and compared. @*Results@#Of the 77 snake bite patients, 44 patients were categorized into the rural group (57.1%). The rura1 group showed significant differences in old age (p=0.011), delayed hospital visits (p=0.010), far hospital distance (p<0.001), high local effect score (p<0.001), high traditional snake-bite severity grading scale (p=0.008) and use of large amounts of antivenins (p=0.026). There was a significantly higher incidence of acute kidney injury (p=0.030), rhabdomyolysis (p=0.026), and coagulopathy (p=0.033) in the rural group as well as a longer hospitalization period (p<0.011). @*Conclusion@#Snake bites that occurred in rural areas resulted in patients with more complications compared to urban areas due to farther distances from hospitals, causing a delay in antivenom treatment.