Venomoid Surgery in Venomous Snakes: Surgical Technique and Follow Up

摘要

Venomoid surgery is currently performed in many countries and it is possible to find venomous snakes rendered inoffensive in "specialized markets." However, it should be stressed that in some countries it is illegal to perform this kind of surgery andthat venomoid surgery does not change the status of a venomous snake in the eyes of the law. Despite this, there are very few papers in the veterinary literature that describe the techniques, the indications, the possible complications, and the ethics of such a procedure. In this paper the authors describe state of the art for venomoid surgery and discuss in detail venom duct ligation and resection techniques in Elapidae and Viperidae. Intraoperative duct identification techniques, ethics of the procedure, and follow up are also discussed.