Abstract

VALAREZO-SEVILLA, Diego et al. Snake accident in patients of the Basic Hospital of Jipijapa (Manabí-Ecuador). ccm [online]. 2017, vol.21, n.3, pp. 647-656. ISSN 1560-4381.

Introduction: ophidian accident is the clinical picture caused by the bite of a venomous snake. Forty one species of poisonous snakes are described in Ecuador Objective: to describe clinically and epidemiologically the ophidian accident in patients of the Basic Hospital of Jipijapa (Manabí-Ecuador). Methods: a retrospective observational, descriptive study, based on medical records of hospitalized patients with a diagnosis of snake bite in Internal Medicine Basic Hospital, Jipijapa (Manabí-Ecuador) during January 2008 - April 2012 was done. Results: of the total 78 patients, 61 (78.2%) received antivenin and 17 patients (21.8%) did not receive. There was no relationship between days of hospitalization and the fact of having or not received antivenin, p=Ns (0.8) nor between test positive or negative coagulation time found hospitalization p=Ns (0.7). A low correlation was found between the coagulation test variable and the degree of bite, being statistically significant (p = 0.04). An increase of bites in certain months, in relation to the migratory and reproductive habits of the snakes was observed. Conclusions: there was difficulty in applying protocols of care for ophidian accidents and although this did not affect morbidity and mortality, it can affect the optimization of available resources.

Keywords : snake bite; blood clotting test; antivenom; snakebite.

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