Características clínico - epidemiológicas de los accidentes ofídicos en un hospital de la Amazonía del Perú

Introduction:  In Peru, ophidian accidents are an important public health problem due to a wide territorial distribution of different types of snakes. Objective:  To describe the clinical-epidemiological characteristics and the management of ophidian accidents registered in a hospital in Peru. Methods:  Case series study carried out between January 2011 to December 2015 at the Santa Rosa Hospital in Puerto Maldonado, 256 medical records of patients with a definitive diagnosis of ophidism were reviewed. Sociodemographic and clinical variables and the evolution of the patients were analyzed. Results:  A total of 78.5% of patients were men, the age group most affected were adults. Most of the accidents occurred in March (12.5%). 39% of the patients were engaged in agricultural work. Between 4:00 p.m. and 7:59 p.m., 35,2% of the accidents occurred. 71,1% reported the  Bothrops atrox  snake as the cause of the accident. 71,5% of the bites occurred on the lower limbs. Most patients received specific treatment with polyvalent anti-botropic (90,6%). Conclusions:  In the studied population, the most affected sex is the male with an age between 27 and 59 years. The most frequent snake causing the accidents was the Bothrops atrox , better known among the inhabitants as "jergon". In most cases, antivenom was administered as a specific treatment.