Clinical and epidemiologic profile of venomous snakebites in Chongqing Wuling mountainous area, western China.

BACKGROUND

In China, venomous snakebites are an important medical emergency and cause of hospital admission, but few studies have looked at the clinical and epidemiologic profile of human snakebite victims.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective study of 440 snakebite cases encountered at a single hospital in the Chongqing Wuling mountainous area of western China from July 2004 to August 2018. Data were collected from the electronic medical record system.

RESULTS

The majority of bite victims were male (58.4%), 41-60 y of age (37.9%) and the bites occurred during the daytime (51.1%) in July-September (62.5%). The lower limbs were the most vulnerable sites to snakebites (73.9%). The most common local toxicity consisted of pain (86.1%), oedema (78.4%) and bleeding (35.9%). Of the systemic toxicities, haematuria (14.3%) and ophthalmoplegia (9.5%) were common. The majority (86.4%) of individuals presented to the hospital within 6 h.

CONCLUSIONS

This study describes the clinical and epidemiologic profile of venomous snakebites in the Chongqing Wuling mountainous area of western China. Multicentre prospective studies were needed in the entire country of China.