Terciopelo; Bothrops asper; fer-de-lance; lancehead; Bothrops atrox

Introduction

Large pit viper up to 6 kg (13 lb) & 2.5 meters (8.2 ft)

Epidemiology

• found at elevations up to 2600 meters in northeast Mexico, Central America, & northern South America from Colombian & Ecuadorian Andes to Caribbean coast
• accounts for most snakebites in its range due to defensive nature & proximity to humans
• most common snakebites in Amazone basin (90%)
• nocturnal & solitary
• prey is small mammals (rats & mice)

Pathology

• bite results in pain, oozing from the puncture wounds, local swelling increasing for up to 36 hours
• bruising spreads site of the bite site
• blisters, numbness, mild fever, headache, bleeding from the nose & gums, hemoptysis, gastrointestinal bleeding, hematuria, hypotension, nausea/vomiting, & alterations of consciousness from dissemination of venom
• if untreated, local necrosis frequently may occur resulting in gangrene requiring amputation
• fatalities from sepsis, intracranial hemorrhage, acute renal failure & hemorrhagic shock

* images

Management

• photobiomodulation
  • low-level laser therapy

More general terms

• Crotalidae (pit vipers)