The opinion of when to start crofab certainly exists on a continuum. The guys that run the annual venom conference in Houston start it really early based on evidence pointing to reduction in long term problems (like nerve pain).
zooguy96 said:
A friend got tagged by a rattlesnake (being stupid). He was picking retime mites off of the snake. He felt sorry for it. He handled venomous snakes regularly (had some copperheads and rattlesnakes at home). A fang got loose and.... 10+ vials if chrofab later....quite a high bill.
Cromagnum said:
Permission to use these pictures for a safety moment at work?
I have seen cost to the hospital at about $3,200 per vial. I have found some hospitals charging as much as $15-20K per vial at their list price.PharmD4 said:zooguy96 said:
A friend got tagged by a rattlesnake (being stupid). He was picking retime mites off of the snake. He felt sorry for it. He handled venomous snakes regularly (had some copperheads and rattlesnakes at home). A fang got loose and.... 10+ vials if chrofab later....quite a high bill.
We've purchased/dispensed a little more crofab than normal this Spring...presumably because people are sheltered in place doing more outside projects.
10 vials is pretty much the minimum if the full snakebite protocol is followed including maintenance dosing (Manufacturer's protocols call for increasingly higher doses for initial control -- not going to get into my opinions on this thread)
High bill indeed... imagine if you received 20-30 vials for severe envenomation. For those interested, the treatment algorithm is public information though each facility typically develops its own protocol.
betadawg1 said:
Unfortunately I didn't get a photo or kill it for that matter, but I got hit in the top of the foot by an approximately 12 inch copperhead last night.
Pretty damn painful experience.
Badace52 said:
No the venom courses thought the entire body within a few seconds of the bite. That is why venom suction devices are completely ineffective and also why you should never try to suck venom from a wound.
The local inflammation is related to cell destruction and bleeding near the site of the bite. The cells most affected are those nearest the site of the bite and there will be some leakage of blood into the extracellular spaces in that area if the animal has a hematoxic venom.
However the entire body will suffer from the effects of the venom and if enough is injected or the particular venom is particularly toxic, bleeding and excessive clotting will both start to occur simultaneously due to a process called disseminated intravascular coagulation. Usually severe organ damage follows and then occasionally death.
We run blood tests in the ER to look for this process beginning and the results of those tests largely govern whether or not we decide to use antivenin.
bh93 said:
Were you wearing shoes?