Contact: Caitlin Wendt, caitlin.wendt@bannerhealth.com

PHOENIX (April 9, 2018) -- Typically a patient with a rattlesnake bite receives 10 or more vials of antivenom, a stay in the ICU and a large hospital bill. A study titled, “Comparison of Antivenom Dosing Strategies for Rattlesnake Envenomation,” was recently published in the Critical Care Medicine Journal and highlights a new approach to treating patients that have suffered a rattlesnake bite.

In summary, toxicologists are using less antivenom (which means less out-of-pocket expense for patients) and having shorter ICU and length of stays without worse outcomes.

Several years ago the entire treatment approach at Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix was changed, in this study the new and old approaches are compared highlighting the improvement in outcomes.

As the weather gets warmer in Arizona we will start to see more snakes and unfortunately more bites.

Anne-Michelle Ruha, MD, vice-chair of the department of toxicology at Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix, can speak about how using less antivenom is possible, what this means for the patient, and more.