Snakebite mortality at Port Moresby General Hospital, Papua New Guinea, 1992–2001

Objective: Fatal snakebites at Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH), Papua New Guinea (PNG), were examined to identify interventions that may improve patient survival. Design: Retrospective case series. Subjects and setting: Inpatients at PMGH who presented with snakebite, had evidence of envenomation, and died as inpatients between 1 January 1992 and 31 December 2001. Outcome measures: Number and cause of fatalities; ventilation bed-days; antivenom timing, dose and price. Results: 87 deaths occurred among 722 snakebite admissions to the intensive care unit (ICU). Of these 722 patients, 82.5% were ventilated, representing 45% of all ventilated ICU patients and 60% (3430/5717) of all ICU ventilator bed-days. The median duration of ventilation in fatal snakebite cases was significantly less than in non-fatal cases for children (3.0 v. 4.5 days) and adults (3.0 v. 5.0 days). The case-fatality rate for children (14.6%) was significantly greater than that for adults (8.2%). Sixty fatalities were examined in detail: 75% received blood products; 53% received antivenom (mostly a single ampoule of polyvalent), but only 5% received antivenom ≤ 4 hours post-bite. Major causes of death included respiratory complications (50%), probable intracerebral haemorrhage (17%), and renal failure (10%). Antivenom unit costs increased significantly over the decade; in 2000 an ampoule of polyvalent antivenom was 40-fold more expensive in PNG than in Australia on a gross domestic product (A$) per capita basis. Conclusions: Management of severe snakebite is a major challenge for PMGH. Improved antivenom procurement and use policies (including increased use of appropriate monovalent antivenoms), combined with targeted snakebite education interventions (community- and hospital-based), are key interventions to reduce the ongoing toll from snakebite