Table 1.

Characteristics of groups before treatment

Variable	Promethazine group (n=49)	Placebo group (n=52)
Sex
Male	39	41
Female	10	11
Age (years)
⩽14	9	6
>14	40	46
Systemic bleeding
Yes	7	6
No	42	46
Blood clotting
Unclottable	19	24
Clottable	30	28
Severity of envenoming
Mild	36	40
Moderate	13	12
Antivenom
Instituto Vital Brazil	24	23
Instituto Butantan	19	17
Fundação Ezequiel Dias	6	12
Speed of infusion (ml/min)
<1.6	25	31
1.6-2.4	23	19
>2.4	1	2