The effect of antivenin on intramuscular pressure elevations induced by rattlesnake venom.

The dose of an antivenin required to neutralize a clinical case of venom poisoning, as well as determining the timing or need to initiate antivenin treatment, is frequently difficult to objectively ascertain. In this study, venom from the southern Pacific rattlesnake, Crotalus viridis helleri, was injected into 29 dog hind limb anterolateral compartments. A solution of C.

Rattlesnake bites and surgical decompression: results using a laboratory model.

Studies were performed on the hind limbs of dogs and their anterolateral compartments to evaluate the effect of fasciotomy on tissue pressure and necrosis following pit viper envenomation. Venom from the southern Pacific rattlesnake, Crotalus viridis helleri, was injected into either the subcutaneous tissues, the intact anterolateral compartment or the anterolateral compartment following fasciectomy. Interstitial fluid pressure measurements, as well as limb girth and surface temperatures, were obtained over the first 48 hr following venom injection, after which time the compartment contents were examined microscopically.