Abstract

MOREJON GARCIA, Moisés  and  SALUP DIAZ, Rosa R. Ophidism: Study of 30 cases in Brazil. Rev Cubana Med Gen Integr [online]. 2006, vol.22, n.2. ISSN 0864-2125.

Thirty patients admitted in the Municipal Hospital of Paraiso de Tocantins, State of Tocantins , Brazil , due to cobra bite, were studied between 1998 and 2001 . According to the results, there was a predominance of ophidic accidents in male patients (76.6 %) aged 15-50 (80 %). Most of the reptiles corresponded to Bothrops genus (63.3 %), and the greatest number of bites occurred in the lower limbs (80 %). The most evident clinical manifestations were edema and pain (93.3 %), which were from moderate to severe in 63.3 % of them. Therefore, the mean dose of anti-ophidic serum used was 10 ampules in a single dose. The coagulogram showed coagulation alteration in 70 % of the patients, but it was totally recovered in 48 hrs. The most frequent complication observed was a renal failure in 9 patients, of whom 5 had a complete recovery in our hospital, and 4 were referred to the ICU. Two patients died (6.6 %), both of renal failure and shock. Of the total of patients, 25 (83.3 %) had a satisfactory evolution.

Keywords : Ophidism; snake bite; anti-ophidic serum.

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