© 2019 International Journal of Health & Allied Sciences | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow 155 Treatment of snakebite with snakestone – A preliminary observational study Dushad Ram, Christy Jancy Abstract: BACKGROUND: Snakestone (blackstone) is known to be useful in the treatment of snakebites in different parts of the world for centuries. So far, no empirical study examined its usefulness in snakebite. This study was conducted to know the effcacy of snakestone in snakebite. METHODS: This was a clinic based cross‑sectional observational study. Fifty‑six consecutive individuals with different snakebites who underwent snakestone treatment were recruited and assessed with demographic clinical pro forma and clinical assessment was done for recovery from snakebite. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Descriptive and inferential statistics (Kruskal–Wallis test) were used. RESULTS: The mean score on age was 34 years, 8 h since the bite, and 278 stones were used. Number of stone used for treatment varied signifcantly based on postbite symptom (P < 0.05), type of snake (P < 0.05), and body part bitten (P < 0.05). All participants recovered from snakebite, and treatment was uneventful. CONCLUSIONS: Snakestone treatment may be effective in snakebite. Further study is needed to replicate the fnding. Keywords: Snakebite, snakestone, treatment Introduction I ndia is reported to have the highest number of snakebites (81,000) and deaths (11,000) per year. [1] Still, the snakebite remains an underestimated cause of accidental death. [2] Of the estimated deaths due to venomous snakebite worldwide, half occur in India. [3] All epidemiological surveys from the developing world indicated that the majority of victims of snakebite seeks initially seek traditional medicinal care. [4,5] Common traditional methods are cutting the bite site; use of a tourniquet; freezing, burning, and shocking; ingestion of plant extracts; and local application of poultices and ingestion of alcohol, etc. Extraction is another method used in some parts of the world such as Asia, Africa, and Latin American countries. [6,7] The use of snakestone (blackstone) is the most common extraction method. Although it is known to be useful for centuries in snakebite, there is little scientifc literature on its use and efficacy. Chippaux et al . attempted to explore the possible beneft of blackstone in the animal model but could not establish clear effcacy. [4,5] Few studies found some usefulness as prehospital frst aid. [8,9] Madaki et al. could not fnd a decreased incidence of envenoming using snakestones compared to those receiving no frst aid, decreased duration of hospital stay, or differences in morbidity or mortality. However, dose requirement of antivenom was signifcantly low among those used snakestone, but Michael et al. could not Address for correspondence: Dr. Dushad Ram, Department of Psychiatry, JSS Medical College, Mysore - 570 004, Karnataka, India. E-mail: dushadram@ gmail.com Received: 08-06-2019 Accepted: 09-07-2019 Published: 05-08-2019 Department of Psychiatry, JSS Medical College, Mysore, Karnataka, India Original Article Access this article online Quick Response Code: Website: www.ijhas.in DOI: 10.4103/ijhas.IJHAS_45_19 How to cite this article: Ram D, Jancy C. Treatment of snakebite with snakestone – A preliminary observational study. Int J Health Allied Sci 2019;8:155-8. This is an open access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Atributon-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creatons are licensed under the identcal terms. For reprints contact: reprints@medknow.com [Downloaded free from http://www.ijhas.in on Friday, September 13, 2019, IP: 10.10.10.27]