Introduction:

Snake bites continue to be a public health problem, especially in tropical and subtropical countries.

Objective:

To describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of the ophidic accidents of a Regional Hospital of Paraguay during the years 2010 to 2016.

Material and Methods:

An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out where data collected from epidemiological records of patients with a history of ophidian accidents who attended the Regional Hospital of Coronel Oviedo from January 2010 to December 2016 were analyzed.

Results:

143 cases of ophidism were registered, with predominance in males (65.7%), in ages between 11 and 40 years (58%). The gender of the aggressor snake, responsible for the great majority of the ophidic accidents, was the Bothrops (58%). The most frequent location of the bite was the lower limbs (82.5%). The main local manifestation was pain (85.3%) and general manifestations highlighted incoagulability (42%). The lethality recorded in the study was 0.7%.

Conclusion:

The ophidic accident continues to be an event of interest for public health, since it increases the morbidity and mortality of the inhabitants of rural areas of the department of Caaguazú.

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