A 43-year-old man presented to the emergency department after he was swimming in the ocean and felt a sudden sting followed by a burning pain and muscle spasms in his right hand.
Can we define a group of pit viper victims who are at low risk for hematologic venom effects (fibrinogen degradation and/or platelet destruction) and spare these patients the time and expense of serial laboratory testing?
In this study, we sought to determine whether it was possible to limit the practice of ordering coagulation studies to those patients suffering severe envenomation, rattlesnake envenomation, or both.
