Role of Artificial Ventilation in Experimental Cobra Envenomation in the Dog

Use of Neostigmine After Snake Bite

“…(b) A cardiotoxin. The effect of this fraction has been studied extensively (for example: Chopra and Ishwariah, 1931;Gottdenkar and Wachsteinum, 1940;Sarkar, 1947Sarkar, , 1948Sarkar, , 1951Sarkar and Maitra, 1950;Bhanganada and Perry, 1963). It was found that small doses of venom increased the force of myocardial contraction, cardiac output and arterial pressure, while with large doses there was depression of the myocardium, leading to asystole.…”

“…Cardiovascular collapse may have been caused by the cardiotoxin (Chopra and Ishwariah, 1931;Gottdenkar and Wachsteinum, 1940;Sarkar, 1948;Bhanganada and Perry, 1963). Hydrocortisone was administered to combat shock (Feldberg and Kellaway, 1937) along with dextrose saline and mephenteramine sulphate i.v.…”

“…Since the site of action of the toxin is now known to be at the neuromuscular junction, it follows that artificial ventilation should form part of the treatment (Gode, Tandon and Bhide, 1968;Mehta, Kelkar and Parikh, 1968). In this case the child's general condition improved after artificial ventilation with oxygenenriched air.…”