Control of antivenom treatment in Echis carinatus (Carpet Viper) poisoning.

A study of all the patients treated for Echis carinatus bites in a rural mission hospital in Northern Nigeria in June 1973 showed that not all bleeding during recovery from an Echis bite results directly from the action of the venom; thus not all bleeding requires antivenom for treatment. Evenomation by Echis in West Africa is accompanied by incoagulability of the blood. If coagulability is assessed by a simply performed test, also described, on each occasion bleeding is suspected of being due to Echis venom and if antivenom is given only when incoagulability is demonstrated, expensive antivenom may be used more sparingly and to more benefit.