Snake Venomous Bite Causes Necrosis,...Girl's Leg Shrivels And Turns Black
This horrific picture shows a young
girl's leg that has shrivelled and turned completely black after being bitten
by a snake.
The snake’s venom caused severe
necrosis – the premature death of cells.
This caused the tissue in her leg to
die, leaving it withered and rotten.
The 13 year old girl suffered severe
necrosis - the premature death of cells - due to a snake bite that was treated
with local indigenous remedies for a month before she was brought to a hospital in Carcaras.
The 13-year-old girl, who is
unidentified, was first treated by remedies from the indigenous culture she was
from, according to a
photograph posted on Instagram by the username 'juventudmedica'.
A month later she was eventually
brought to Carcaras, Venezuela,for medical treatment.
One doctor, who has seen the
photograph, told MailOnline the girl will need her leg amputated but is still
likely to die from the snake venom.
Dr Arun Ghosh, a private GP in
Liverpool, said: ‘Snake venom is very complicated and depends on the species of
snake.
'But the picture shows clearly severe
tissue necrosis that will need amputation, though she still may die from this
due to the nature of the poison.
‘The whole lower leg is black, it’s
spreading up. Looking at the rest of her body she’s showing signs of muscle
wastage from the poison. Her other leg is thin. It's likely she will still
die.'
He added that the necrosis has led to
a condition called rhabdomyolysis, in which muscle tissue will begin to die
throughout the body.
Rhabdomyolysis can result in damage
to the kidneys, which coupled with low blood pressure, can lead to kidney failure and even death if
left untreated, he said.
Being treated with local remedies
probably meant she was given antibiotics, but not treatment to adequately
control poisoning from the snake venom, which contains agents that paralyse the
nerves and cause the blood to clot.
Dr Ghosh said: ‘This girl has had
classic rural treatment which is often only able to treat local infection
secondary to the bite (at best say equal to antibiotics).
'But she is unlikely to have received
anti-venom treatment (which entails giving treatment to stop blood
clotting) to keep her blood flowing through her body.’
The photograph’s caption said the
girl also suffered a broken elbow from the incident with the snake.
The bite caused a laceration to the
artery in her leg and the resulting bleeding led to what's known as
‘compartment syndrome'.
This is a serious condition when
pressure within a compartment such as the leg causes a decrease in blood supply
to the affected muscles.
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