Accidents involving venomous animals and emergency assistance

Abstract

This study is justified by the high rate of accidents involving venomous animals, as well as the need to discuss emergency care for patients affected by these events. The objectives of this study are to analyze, according to the scientific literature, the clinical manifestations presented by patients who are affected by venomous animals and to describe the main nursing care in pre- and intra-hospital emergencies. This is a literature review study conducted in the LILACS, CINAHL and MedLine databases via PubMed, using the descriptors venomous animals, emergencies and emergency medical services in Portuguese, English and Spanish. Inclusion criteria: articles published in the last ten years, available in full and dealing with accidents with venomous animals. Articles reporting exogenous poisoning caused by plants were excluded, as were theses and dissertations. Of the 54 articles found, 10 met the selection criteria for this study. After reading the text in full, two thematic categories emerged: Clinical manifestations of patients affected by venomous animals and Main care in emergency situations. It was concluded that the clinical manifestations presented by patients vary according to the type of animal that caused the accident, ranging from nausea and vomiting to headache and multiple organ failure. Care to ensure the patient's survival involves identifying the causative agent and administering the specific serum as soon as possible.