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Snake Bite



K S SWIGART   katswig@earthlink.net


Lindsey said:

> Just a warning, it is extremely important that you do not "work a horses
> butt off"  with a poisonous snake bite b'c this increase in circulation
will cause
> it to spread  throughout the body at a much faster rate, causing more
> devastation throughout. If your horse gets bitten  you must try and keep
them
> as still as possible.  Make sure that the horse is completely recovered
> b'f working them.

The appropriate treatment and the extent to which one ought to restrict
circulation in the event of a snake bit is actually open to
controversy, but the general consensus is that restricting circulation
increases the chances of localized tissue damage (and localized tissue
damage in an extremity can be sufficiently severe as to require
amputation) while increased circulation increases the chances of the
poison going system wide and threatening the life of the victim (rather
than just the extremities).

Since a) I have never heard of anybody amputating the leg of a horse in
order to save its life (they just euthanize the horse), b) a horse is a
HUGE animal and it is unlikely that the amount of venom from any
rattlesnake bite will cause any systemic problems, and c) even those
people who are of the "restrict circulation so the poison doesn't
spread" do so only until an antivenom (aka antivenin) can be
administered.  IF you are not intending to administer an antivenom
(which most people don't in horses because in addition to being VERY,
VERY expensive, it also carries high risk of allergic (i.e
anaphylactic) reaction because horses are used to develop antivenomns;
the allergic reaction to an antivenom is as likely to kill a horse as
the venom), then what you want is for the venom to perfuse to as much
surrounding tissue as possible since lower concentrations are less
likely to cause permanent damage.

So yes, I worked my horse's butt off for the very purpose of increasing
circulation (it is, after all circulation that gets the venom OUT of
the tissue) and maintaining the blood flow to the tissue of his lower
leg.  Circulation in even a healthy horse's lower leg is pretty poor (and
requires movement to maintain it).  In the instance of a rattlesnake
bite (very few varieties of rattlesnake have a type of venom that has
systemic consequences, not none, but very few), I considered it far
more important to maintain as much circulation as possible in a
situation where circulation was already severely compromised.
Yes, I was increasing the possibility of the venom getting to my
horse's heart and possibly causing tissue damage there, but a horse's
back leg is a long way from his heart :)  But more importantly, I
considered it important to do what I could to maintain as much
circulation as possible in order to save my horse's leg.  Saving my
horse's leg WAS saving my horse's life.

There are trade-offs between increasing circulation and restricting
circulation.  For me, in a horse bitten on an extremity by a
rattlesnake (this may not be the case for other types of poisonous
snakes, rattlesnakes are all we have around here so they are all I have
investigated enough to form an opinion about), the advantages of
increased circulation far outweigh the disadvantages of increased
circulation and the serious consequences of compromised circulation.

For people, whether I would choose increased circulation or restricting
circulation would depend upon the availability of medical treatment.
If I were out in the middle of nowhere without access to medical care
for days, then I would increase circulation; however, if medical care
where an antivenom could be administered, then I would mildly restrict
circulation (pressure bandage, not a tourniquet) until the victim could
quietly be gotten to medical assistance.

In any instance, horse or human, availability of medical attention or
not, I would be equally as concerned about appropriately treating the
deep puncture wound and the serious threat of secondary infection
associated with any such wound. Venom is not the only thing that a
rattlesnake injects into tissue when it bites.  The assortment of other
nasty bugs that come with the bite or that the site is now susceptible
to can be equally if not more life threatening.

kat
Orange County, Calif.

p.s.  In people, they rarely even die of rattlesnake bites, but
a great many people do suffer more severe consequences because
of some of the assinine things that people do as first-aid (one
of which is either applying a tourniquet or ice in order to
restrict circulation or reduce swelling, as applying ice
reduces swelling by restricting circulation).  And please note
that this applies to rattlesnake bites and does not necessarily
apply to bites from other types of venomous snakes.







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