Low dose versus high dose anti-snake venom therapy in the treatment of haematotoxic snake bite in South India

Most of the studies on the appropriate dose of anti-snake venom (ASV) are from tertiary hospitals and the guidelines are unclear. Our observational study compared the outcomes of two prevalent treatment regimes for haematotoxic snake bite in a secondary care hospital in South India. The time to norm...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inTropical doctor Vol. 47; no. 4; p. 300
Main Authors Joseph, Imanto M, Kuriakose, Cijoy K, Dev, Anand Vimal, Philip, George A
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 01.10.2017
Subjects
Adult
Antivenins - administration & dosage
Blood Coagulation Disorders - therapy
Female
Humans
Immunologic Factors - administration & dosage
India
Male
Middle Aged
Snake Bites - therapy
Snake Venoms - immunology
Tertiary Care Centers
Young Adult
anti-snake venom dose
Haematotoxic snake bite
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Summary:Most of the studies on the appropriate dose of anti-snake venom (ASV) are from tertiary hospitals and the guidelines are unclear. Our observational study compared the outcomes of two prevalent treatment regimes for haematotoxic snake bite in a secondary care hospital in South India. The time to normalisation of whole blood clotting time, mortality and complications were not different between the groups. The average dose of ASV required in the low and high dose groups were 106 mL and 246 mL, respectively. Consequently, patients who received low dose ASV incurred approximately 50% less expense. Urticarial rashes were also significantly fewer in the low dose group.
ISSN:1758-1133
DOI:10.1177/0049475517712804