This 13-Year-Old Girl’s Leg Shrivels and Rots Due to Snakebite!

Venezuela– an unidentified 13-year-old girl’s leg became severely necrotic due to a venomous snakebite.

The picture below, posted by an Instagram user named “juventudmedica”, shows how the girl’s affected leg had shriveled and turned black as the muscle tissues “rot”.

Reports say that she was first treated with classic rural remedies, which probably meant that she was administered with antibiotics. However, she only sought appropriate medical treatment at Carcaras a month after the incident.

Doctors say they may have to amputate her leg.

It was unlikely that she was administered with an anti-venom to control the spread of the poison. Anti-venoms are composed of agents that can paralyse the nerves and coagulate blood.

According to Dr. Arum Ghosh, a private GP from Liverpool, snake venom is very complicated.

“It depends on the species of the snake”, he said.

“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.”

Furthermore, the necrosis resulted in rhabdomyolysis, a condition that can cause the dissolution of her entire skeletal muscles. If left untreated, it may damage her kidneys and eventually result in kidney failure or even death.

This case only proves how important it is for us to seek early and appropriate medical treatment.

H/T: Daily Mail, Daily Pedia, Medscape