Patient selection: crotaline snakebite with no evidence of progression in venom effects
Patient observation:
(1) clinically stable
(2) able to perform activities of daily living unassisted or with available help at home
(3) adequate pain control on oral medications
(4) no other outstanding medical conditions that require continued hospital care
(5) stable or improving laboratory values: PT, fibrinogen, platelet count
Instructions:
(1) maintain limb elevation as much as possible
(2) watch for signs of abnormal bleeding or bruising
(3) watch for signs of serum sickness (fever, rash, myalgias, arthralgias, etc)
(4) watch for worsening of limb swelling
A patient who has had a rattlesnake bite
(1) is at risk for late hematologic venom effects so should have followup visits on day 2 or 3 and on day 5 to 7.
(2) should take bleeding precautions for 2 weeks
