Snakebites in southwestern Goiás State, Brazil

the present study evaluated snakebite cases recorded by the southwest ii regional health bureau [regional de saúde sudoeste ii], goiás state, brazil. the following data were analyzed: accident period; patient's age and gender; bite site; envenomation severity; and time elapsed between the bite and medical treatment. we evaluated 211 cases recorded between january 2002 and december 2005, which resulted in an incidence coefficient of 32.4/100,000 inhabitants. most accidents were due to the bite of snakes from the bothrops genus (78.2%). the months between january and april had a larger number of accidents (93%-44.1%), although no significant differences were observed. only one death occurred, resulting in a mortality rate of 0.5%. the lower limbs were the most frequently affected (66.3%). the majority of the victims were male (75.1%). the age group of most of the patients was from 21 to 30 years (20.8%). the accidents were classified as mild, moderate and severe, representing 44.9%, 47.6% and 7.5% of the cases, respectively. the time elapsed between the accident and medical treatment was less than 3h in most of the cases (80.7%), reflecting the high frequency of mild and moderate accidents (92.5%) as well as the large number of healed patients.