Suspected snakebite in a tertiary referral centre in Western Sydney: a 10-year case series

Abstract

ABSTRACT We aimed to determine the epidemiology and clinical management of patients presenting to an Australian tertiary emergency department (ED) with a suspected snake bite. Nepean Hospital covers a geographical area known to harbour venomous elapid snake species. A Retrospective chart review of all patients presenting to Nepean ED from 2011 to 2020 was performed. We searched the electronic medical records (eMR) for triage presentations including search terms of “snakebite”, “bite” “envenomation”, or “bite-snake” and a discharge or independent diagnosis of “snakebite” or “envenomation”. Our review identified 110 patients presenting with snakebite, of whom nine had signs or symptoms indicating envenomation. The most common envenomation syndrome was venom-induced consumption coagulopathy (VICC) and the most commonly suspected culprit snake was the Eastern Brown Snake. Our data broadly agreed with national data on epidemiology and demographics. We noted a satisfactory rate of compliance with local snake bite protocols with evidence of early diagnosis and antivenom administration. We had no cases of anaphylaxis and one case of serum sickness. Our study of a tertiary hospital experience in the management of snake bite demonstrated an appropriate adherence to national guidelines and early clinician recognition of envenomation syndromes. It also demonstrated appropriate antivenom use without obvious time delay.

Keywords

• Snake bite
• envenomation
• Australia
• vICC
• case series