Snake Bite

A suspected venomous snakebite is treated as a time-sensitive emergency because venom can continue to spread after the patient reaches care. Pit-viper venom damages vascular and soft tissue, disrupts platelets and clotting factors, and may produce systemic toxicity. The visible result is often increasing pain, edema, bruising, or blistering around the bite. The dangerous effects may be less visible: falling fibrinogen, thrombocytopenia, prolonged PT/INR, hypotension, kidney injury, or neurotoxicity. Pain and a small area of swelling can occur without clinically important envenomation. What changes the picture is progression. Swelling that rapidly advances, especially when it crosses the nearest joint, signals that venom effects are extending beyond the local bite site. A patient can appear well at first and deteriorate later, so one reassuring assessment does not rule out envenomation. A dry bite can leave puncture marks without a meaningful venom dose. Serial examination, not the appearance of the wound alone, distinguishes a dry bite from early envenomation.