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First Aid and Pre-Hospital Management of Venomous Snakebites

Background: Antivenom is the definitive treatment for venomous snakebites, but is expensive and not available in many rural and poorly developed regions. Timely transportation to facilities that stock and administer antivenom may not be available in rural areas with poorly developed emergency medica...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Parker-Cote, Jennifer, Meggs, William J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6073535/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30274441
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed3020045
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author Parker-Cote, Jennifer
Meggs, William J.
author_facet Parker-Cote, Jennifer
Meggs, William J.
author_sort Parker-Cote, Jennifer
collection PubMed
description Background: Antivenom is the definitive treatment for venomous snakebites, but is expensive and not available in many rural and poorly developed regions. Timely transportation to facilities that stock and administer antivenom may not be available in rural areas with poorly developed emergency medical services. These factors have led to consideration of measures to delay onset of toxicity or alternatives to antivenom therapy. Methods: PubMed searches were conducted for articles on snakebite treatment, or that contained first aid, emergency medical services, tourniquets, pressure immobilization bandages, suction devices, and lymphatic flow inhibitors. Results: The reviewed articles describe how venoms spread after a venomous snakebite on an extremity, list the proposed first aid measures for delaying the spread of venoms, and evaluate the scientific studies that support or refute methods of snakebite first aid. The recommendations for field treatment of venomous snakebites will be discussed. Conclusions: The evidence suggests that pressure immobilization bandages and related strategies are the best interventions to delay onset of systemic toxicity from venomous snakebites but may increase local toxicity for venoms that destroy tissue at the site of the bite, so their use should be individualized to the circumstances and nature of the venom.
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spelling pubmed-60735352018-09-24 First Aid and Pre-Hospital Management of Venomous Snakebites Parker-Cote, Jennifer Meggs, William J. Trop Med Infect Dis Review Background: Antivenom is the definitive treatment for venomous snakebites, but is expensive and not available in many rural and poorly developed regions. Timely transportation to facilities that stock and administer antivenom may not be available in rural areas with poorly developed emergency medical services. These factors have led to consideration of measures to delay onset of toxicity or alternatives to antivenom therapy. Methods: PubMed searches were conducted for articles on snakebite treatment, or that contained first aid, emergency medical services, tourniquets, pressure immobilization bandages, suction devices, and lymphatic flow inhibitors. Results: The reviewed articles describe how venoms spread after a venomous snakebite on an extremity, list the proposed first aid measures for delaying the spread of venoms, and evaluate the scientific studies that support or refute methods of snakebite first aid. The recommendations for field treatment of venomous snakebites will be discussed. Conclusions: The evidence suggests that pressure immobilization bandages and related strategies are the best interventions to delay onset of systemic toxicity from venomous snakebites but may increase local toxicity for venoms that destroy tissue at the site of the bite, so their use should be individualized to the circumstances and nature of the venom. MDPI 2018-04-24 /pmc/articles/PMC6073535/ /pubmed/30274441 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed3020045 Text en © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Parker-Cote, Jennifer
Meggs, William J.
First Aid and Pre-Hospital Management of Venomous Snakebites
title First Aid and Pre-Hospital Management of Venomous Snakebites
title_full First Aid and Pre-Hospital Management of Venomous Snakebites
title_fullStr First Aid and Pre-Hospital Management of Venomous Snakebites
title_full_unstemmed First Aid and Pre-Hospital Management of Venomous Snakebites
title_short First Aid and Pre-Hospital Management of Venomous Snakebites
title_sort first aid and pre-hospital management of venomous snakebites
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6073535/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30274441
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed3020045
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