J Korean Soc Emerg Med.  2007 Dec;18(6):577-583.

The Effectiveness of Antivenin in Treating Snake Bites Resulting in Minimal Clinical Symptoms

• Han SK
• Kim IS
• Ryu S
• Lee JW
• Kim SW
• Yoo IS
• You YH
• Park JS
• Min MG

Abstract

PURPOSE: Serious complications from snake bite envenomization are relatively rare in Korea. According to standrad treatment guidelines for local and systemic injuries, antivenin is not recommended for snake bite cases when victims show minimal clinical symptoms. However, there are no published stidies about the effectiveness of antivenin treatment in such cases in Korea. In order to provide actual documentation to support a standard for treatment, we evaluated the effectiveness of antivenin use by comparing clinical outcomes in snake bite patients exhibiting minimal clinical symptoms (traditional snake bite severity grades 0 and I).
METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed 140 snake bite cases of patients with minimal clinical symptoms who visited the emergency departments of Chungnam National University Hospital, Cheonan Medical Center, and Chungnam Seosan Medical Center in Korea from January 2000 to December 2006. We categorized the patients into antivenin (group 1) and non-antivenin (group 2) treatment groups. We compared clinical outcomes and characteristics of the two groups.
RESULTS
Neither demographic factors nor clinical outcomes showed statistical significance between the groups.
CONCLUSION
In case of snake bite victims in Korea, antivenin treatment should not generally recommended as treatment for victims exhibiting minimlal clinical symptoms.

Keyword

Snake bites; Antivenins; Treatment outcome

MeSH Terms

Antivenins
Chungcheongnam-do
Demography
Emergency Service, Hospital
Humans
Korea
Retrospective Studies
Snake Bites*
Snakes*
Treatment Outcome
Antivenins