Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Antivenom cuts hospital time and cost for dogs bitten by Crotalus
By Katzenbach, Julia E & Foy, Daniel SĀ·Published in Journal of veterinary emergency and critical care (San Antonio, Tex. : 2001)Ā·2015Ā·From Wheat Ridge Animal HospitalĀ·View original on PubMed ā
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Original publication title: Retrospective evaluation of the effect of antivenom administration on hospitalization duration and treatment cost for dogs envenomated by Crotalus viridis: 113 dogs (2004-2012).
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 113 dogs that were bitten by a Western rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis) were treated either with just supportive care or with supportive care plus antivenom. The dogs that received antivenom had longer hospital stays and higher treatment costs, with no significant improvement in survival rates. Specifically, those treated with antivenom stayed in the hospital for a median of 24 hours and incurred costs averaging around $2,002, while those who only received supportive care had a median stay of 20 hours and costs around $1,050. Overall, the study found that antivenom did not provide a clear benefit for these snakebite cases.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To compare the effect of antivenom administration on mortality, hospitalization duration, and cost of hospitalization for dogs envenomated by Crotalus viridis. DESIGN: Retrospective study (January 2004-December 2012). SETTING: Private veterinary emergency and referral center. ANIMALS: One hundred thirteen dogs with confirmed C. viridis envenomation. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Dogs were divided into groups treated with either supportive care only (group 1) or supportive care plus antivenin crotalidae polyvalent (group 2). A modified snakebite severity score was used to compare patients from group 1 and group 2. Patients in group 2 received one 10 mL vial of antivenin crotalidae polyvalent over 4-6 hours. The mortality rate was 1.8% (2/113).  Group 1 had a median duration of hospitalization of 20 hours (range, 8-50 hours), while group 2 had a median duration of hospitalization of 24 hours (range, 1.5-74 hours). Group 1 had a median cost of hospitalization of 1050.00 USD (range, 423.52-2266.09 USD) while group 2 had a median cost of hospitalization of 2002.19 USD (range, 1139.91-6908.01 USD). Both the duration of hospitalization (P < 0.01) and the cost of hospitalization (P < 0.01) were significantly greater in the group of dogs receiving antivenom. CONCLUSIONS: Both the cost and the duration of hospitalization were significantly greater in the group of dogs that received antivenom. The difference in cost between the groups was approximately the cost of the antivenom vial and administration. Amongst the parameters evaluated, no significant benefit was associated with antivenom administered to dogs envenomated by C. viridis.
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Search related cases āOriginal publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26260356/