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ABSTRACT: Introduction
Few data exist to understand the recovery phase of pit viper envenomation. A recently published placebo-controlled clinical trial affords this opportunity. The purpose of this study is to examine the time course of recovery from copperhead snake (Agkistrodon contortrix) envenomation patients managed with and without the use of antivenom, stratified by age, sex, anatomic site of envenomation, initial severity of envenomation, and geographic region.Methods
This is a post-hoc subgroup analysis of data from a multi-center double-blinded clinical trial of Fab antivenom (FabAV) vs. placebo. Outcomes were the Patient-Specific Functional Scale (PSFS) score at 3, 7, 10, and 14 days after envenomation. Least-squares mean PSFS score curves were calculated for each subgroup, and repeated measures ANOVA was used to estimate between-group comparisons.Results
Seventy-two subjects were included, of whom 44 received FabAV. Males demonstrated better overall recovery than females (model predicted PSFS score 6.18 vs 4.99; difference 1.19; 95% CI 0.12 to 2.25; p?=?0.029). No sex difference was found in response to FabAV. Overall recovery and effect of FabAV were similar in adult vs adolescent patients, patients with upper vs lower extremity envenomation, and patients with initially mild vs moderate envenomation signs. Analysis by geographic location was not successful due to ANOVA mode instability.Conclusions
Male victims of copperhead snake envenomation demonstrate slightly better recovery than females, but response to Fab antivenom overall is similar across all subgroups studied.
SUBMITTER: Lavonas EJ
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6942102 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Lavonas Eric J EJ Burnham Randy I RI Schwarz John J Quackenbush Eugenia E Lewis Brandon B Rose S Rutherfoord SR Greene Spencer S Toschlog Eric A EA Charlton Nathan P NP Mullins Michael E ME Schwartz Richard R Denning David D Sharma Kapil K Kleinschmidt Kurt K Bush Sean P SP Anderson Victoria E VE Ginde Adit A AA Gerardo Charles J CJ
Journal of medical toxicology : official journal of the American College of Medical Toxicology 20190903 1
<h4>Introduction</h4>Few data exist to understand the recovery phase of pit viper envenomation. A recently published placebo-controlled clinical trial affords this opportunity. The purpose of this study is to examine the time course of recovery from copperhead snake (Agkistrodon contortrix) envenomation patients managed with and without the use of antivenom, stratified by age, sex, anatomic site of envenomation, initial severity of envenomation, and geographic region.<h4>Methods</h4>This is a po ...[more]