IMAGES IN EMERGENCY MEDICINE
Tooth remnant in non-venomous snake bite on the face: a rare occurrence
1 Department of Plastic Surgery, Morriston Hospital, Swansea, UK
2 Department of Radiology, Morriston Hospital, Swansea, UK
3 Department of Accident and Emergency, Morriston Hospital, Swansea, UK
4 Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Morriston Hospital, Swansea, UK
Correspondence to:
Mr A Kirwadi, Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Morriston Hospital, 29 Golwg Y Waun, Birchgrove, Swansea SA7 0HE, UK; anandkirwadi@doctors.org.uk
Accepted 14 January 2008
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
An 18-year-old patient presented to casualty with pain and swelling of the upper lip for a week following a snake bite by a boa constrictor. Examination revealed inflamed puncture wounds. The radiographs revealed a small 2 mm radio-opaque shadow in the upper lip. The patient was treated with antibiotics. Unfortunately, the patient failed to attend the follow-up clinic.
We are not aware of any case being reported of a tooth remnant in the face after a snake bite wound. Normally, snake bites do not need to be investigated by radiographs. However, delayed presentation with localised tenderness is an indication for a radiograph, which might show a remnant of the teeth in the wound (as in this case). Most non-venomous snake bites do not need prophylactic antibiotics unless it is a penetrating wound or has an implanted foreign body.1 Surgery is indicated when a foreign body is present in the wound.
Figure 1 | |||||||||
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