European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

PROFILE OF SNAKE BITE IN PATIENTS PRESENTING TO THE MEDICAL COLLEGE CATERING MOSTLY HILLY AND RURAL POPULATION

Dr Rupinder Kumar, Dr. Dhiraj Kapoor, *Dr. Pankaj Kumar, Dr. Guru Dutt Sharma and Dr.Varun Deep Dogra

ABSTRACT

Snakebite is a common medical emergency faced by rural population in tropical and subtropical countries. India has the highest number of deaths due to snake bites in the world with 35,000–50,000 people dying every year.[1] There is no study regarding clinical profile, morbidity and mortality pertaining to snake bite cases in Himachal Pradesh to the best of our knowledge. The purpose of the present study is to find out the clinical presentation and complications in the patients of snake bite which will guide the health care facilities in formulating management guidelines as snake bite is a common problem in our area and early treatment improves the prognosis. The study was conducted for a period of 12 months. CONCLUSION Majority of the bite victims were females with 52% and males with 48%. Female to male ratio was 1.08:1.Observed snake bite in 73.2% cases and nonobserved in 26.8% cases.Majority of bites (67.6%) occur during outdoor activities and foot was most common site of bite (38.6. Neurotoxic envenomation was most common (37.8%) followed by hemotoxic (30%).Most common neurotoxic feature was ptosis (89%) .Majority of Hemotoxic bites occur during daytime (42.1%) and of Neurotoxic bites occur during sleep (45.8%). Majority of envenomations were Neurotoxic (37.7%) and majority occur during sleep (45.8%).Most common complication was bleeding from other site of bite (hematemesis, melena, bleeding from nose, mouth and frank hematuria) with 11.8%.AKI was observed in 8.6%. Respiratory Failure was observed in 9.4%. ASV is the only life saving treatment. Most common cause of death was cardiorespiratory arrest.

Keywords: hemotoxic, neurotoxic, snake bite.