An Epidemiologic and Clinical Study of Snake Bites during a Five-Year Period in Karoon, Iran

Abstract

<em>Background:</em>Snakebite is one of the most common health problems in endemic regions such as Iran. Due to the potential life-threatening impact of snake envenomation and biodiversity of snakes, it seems that epidemiological studies are required, as the primary step to design standard and local therapeutic protocols, regarding the national and regional facilities and therapeutic needs. <em>Methods:</em>This investigation was conducted with a retrospective design, by studying all the records of patients affected by snakebite and hospitalized in Sina Hospital during 2006 to 2011. Epidemiological data and also the outcomes of patients (including side effects and survivals) were collected. The data were analyzed by SPSS software version 18, using descriptive statistics and Chi-Square test. P < 0.05 was considered as significant. <em>Results:</em>A total of287 snakebite patients were studied. 73.5% of patients were men and most of them belonged to the age group of 15-34 years. Most common complaints of patients once admitted were pain (74.6%) and edema (43.9%). 96.5% of the patients received 5-10 vials of anti-venom. The most prevalent side effect observed was coagulopathy (70.7%). A significant relationship was found between the anti-venom onset after the bite and the rate of coagulopathy occurrence (p=0.035). Three deaths had occurred in general. <em>Conclusion:</em>Early referral to medical centers and administration of anti-venom has been accompanied by significant improvement in outcomes, and would reduce the hematological side effects, need for administrating blood products, and probably the need for administration higher anti-venom doses.