Dear colleagues

The effects of fish venoms are similar, despite their variations in the composition. The pain is violent and there may be skin necrosis. Most venomous fish present venoms with local actions, such as catfish and stingrays, but representatives of the families Scorpaenidae (scorpionfishes) and Synanceiidae (stonefishes) have a venom with systemic effects, with a greater severity of the envenomations. Most the injuries in the world are caused by catfish and stingrays and there is a need for pain control at the time of the wound. Immersion in hot, but tolerable water relieves the symptom and this fact is credited to the thermolability of the venom. However, when the patient removes the affected area from the hot water, the pain returns. Experiments carried out by our group with microcirculation show that the inoculation of venom contracts vessels quickly and powerfully, causing ischemia in tissues close to the inoculation.

This would explain the return of pain and what we observed in injured patients (pain, necrosis, extreme pallor and cyanosis at the site) and this fact, although published by us, is still little known. I ask colleagues if anyone has similar experiences with fish venoms and, like us, thinks that thermolability really exists and influences the equation, but that the main factor in relieving pain (and possibly necrosis) is immediate vasoconstriction.

Best regards,