Suma Dasaraju
BACKGROUND
Snake venom is well known to cause toxic damage to the kidneys (Schreiner and Maher, 1965). This study is an attempt to evaluate the snakebite-induced Acute Kidney Injury (AKI).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
50 patients with snakebite-induced acute kidney injury were selected randomly and their clinical profile was assessed. Acute kidney injury was evaluated using noninvasive laboratory methods.
Inclusion Criteria- 1. History of snakebite; 2. Presence of AKI.
Exclusion Criteria- Pre-existing renal diseases, after establishing the diagnosis, patients were started on conservative treatment including ASV, blood/blood products and haemodialysis as required.
RESULTS
Out of 50 patients included in the study, majority of them were males (62%) with mean age of presentation 43.8 ± 12.63 years. The mean interval between snakebite and presentation to hospital was 15.37 hours. In them, 98% patients presented with local signs of inflammation, 52% of patients presented with coagulation abnormality and 60% with decreased urine output. Comparison between good outcome (recovered from AKI) and poor outcome (not recovered from AKI) shows significant p-value for ‘lapse of time in hours’ in presenting to the hospital after snakebite (p value 0.005) and ‘alternative treatment taken’ before coming to the hospital (p value 0.001).
CONCLUSION
Poisonous snakebites have common manifestations of cellulitis, abnormal coagulation profile and decreased urine output. Overall mortality due to snakebite-induced AKI is 6%. Patients who did not recover from AKI had lapse of time in presenting to the hospital and abnormal coagulation profile.
