An 11-year-old girl went into the kitchen and was bitten by a cobra on her right ankle. After the traditional medicine man sucked out the venom and bound her foot, she vomited a lot and was in critical condition.
On June 11, Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Van Quang, Head of the Department of Intensive Care and Poison Control, Children’s Hospital 1, said that a child patient living in Tien Giang was transferred to a local hospital in a state of anesthesia and respiratory failure. heavy steaming. The girl’s right ankle was swollen and bruised with a snake bite mark on her ankle.
Doctors intubated the patient and gave him a ventilator, and administered 8 vials of anti-cobra anti-venom serum. The patient was given antibiotics, wound care, and infection control.
After about 10 hours of antivenom serum infusion, the baby woke up, breathed well on his own and was weaned off the ventilator.
Baby girl treated at Intensive Care Department, Children’s Hospital 1. Photo: Hospital provided
Associate Professor Quang recommends that when bitten by a snake, you should not incise the bite wound, squeeze it, suck out the venom, apply leaves or tie a tourniquet because it increases the risk of infection, necrosis, and bleeding. The correct first aid method is to clean the snake bite, disinfect the wound, and reassure the victim. Immobilize the bitten limb and place it lower than the heart, quickly go to a medical facility immediately.
In case of a cobra bite, you should wrap an elastic bandage right above the snake bite to limit the rapid spread of the venom, causing respiratory failure due to muscle weakness. Currently, treating snakebites with anti-snake venom serum is very effective, saving the lives of many critically ill patients. Therefore, patients should immediately go to a medical facility or hospital for timely diagnosis and treatment, and should not apply folk treatment methods.