This horrific picture above shows a young girl’s leg that has shrivelled and turned completely black after being bitten by a snake. The snake’s venom caused severe necrosis – the premature death of cells. This caused the tissue in her leg to die, leaving it withered and rotten.
Dr Arun Ghosh, a private GP in Liverpool, said:
‘Snake venom is very complicated and depends on the species of snake. ‘But the picture shows clearly severe tissue necrosis that will need amputation, though she still may die from this due to the nature of the poison.
‘The whole lower leg is black, it’s spreading up. Looking at the rest of her body she’s showing signs of muscle wastage from the poison. Her other leg is thin. It’s likely she will still die.’
He added that the necrosis has led to a condition called rhabdomyolysis, in which muscle tissue will begin to die throughout the body. Rhabdomyolysis can result in damage to the kidneys, which coupled with low blood pressure, can lead to kidney failure and even death if left untreated, he said.
Being treated with local remedies probably meant she was given antibiotics, but not treatment to adequately control poisoning from the snake venom, which contains agents that paralyse the nerves and cause the blood to clot. Dr Ghosh said:
‘This girl has had classic rural treatment which is often only able to treat local infection secondary to the bite (at best say equal to antibiotics). ‘But she is unlikely to have received anti-venom treatment (which entails giving treatment to stop blood clotting) to keep her blood flowing through her body.’
I wish her divine recovery!
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