After obtaining IRB approval, the medical records of all patients
b 18 years of age presenting to Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) with a
snake bite injury from 1/2006 to 6/2012 were reviewed. Texas
Children’s Hospital is a tertiary care, level 1 trauma center in Houston,
Texas with over 80,000 emergency department visits annually.
Patients coded with an injury mechanism of snake bite were
identified through a prospectively collected trauma database. Data
collected included the age at presentation, the setting of the injury,
the type of snake involved, physical exam findings, and the hospital
course. Snake bites were defined as “envenomated” if there was
evidence of edema, discoloration of the site, necrosis, or systemic
symptoms. The severity of injury was scored using a novel scale based
only on the initial physical examination