Prolonged asymptomatic venom induced consumption coagulopathy: Caused by hemotoxic snake bite

Abstract

Envenoming and deaths resulting from snake bite are a particularly important public health problem in the tropical world, with the highest burden in rural areas of South East Asia and Africa. Snake bite is one of the most severe “Neglected Tropical Diseases” in the world and more importantly in this part of India. We present a case of hemotoxic snake bite where the coagulation parameters remained deranged for a longer time without any active bleeding manifestations, despite treatment with Anti-Snake Venom (ASV) as per the National Treatment Guidelines. Indian Snake Bite Management Protocol emphasizes on the Role of Whole Blood Clotting Time (WBCT) as a bedside, accessible and feasible test for assessment of coagulopathy even in rural settings. Certain scenarios where the patients present late to our hospital with Snake Bite and Venom Induced Consumption Coagulopathy (VICC), the decision regarding ASV prescription in such patients is quite tricky, and needs to be individualized.

Keywords

• asymptomatic
• hemotoxic
• prolonged
• snake bite
• vicc