A five year retrospective study of fatal snakebite in Chandigarh region

This is a 5 years retrospective analysis and demographic study of cases of fatal snake envenomation presenting to the mortuary of Government Medical College & Hospital, Chandigarh, from January 2011 to December 2015. The purpose of this study is to present the epidemiological pattern of snake poisoning in this region, as also to describe the clinical characteristics and pathological changes in various organs. In our study, 49 cases of death due to snakebite were brought for medico legal post mortem examination to the Department. Of these, maximum number of cases, i.e. 15, belonged to the age group of 20–29 years; 42 were from rural areas and the time of incident of snakebite was mostly between 3 AM to 6 AM (28.5%), followed by 6 PM to 9 PM (14.3%). The months of the rainy season, i.e. July & August, accounted for the maximum no. of cases i.e. 32. The most common area of bite were the lower limbs (57%); swelling & cyanosis (41%), petechial hemorrhage (29%) and cellulitis (12%) were the common local changes at the site of bite. In 13 cases, no bite mark was seen; however, the involved limb showed local changes like swelling, ecchymosis, wet gangrene and cellulitis. Among the histopathological changes, acute tubular necrosis (41%), followed by disseminated intravascular coagulation (20%) & pulmonary oedema (12%) were the most common findings.