Tarantula Bite

Aka: Tarantula Bite, Tarantula, Poisoning due to Tarantula Spider Venom, Tarantula Venom

II. Epidemiology

  1. Most common in Desert Southwest

III. Types: Tarantula genera

  1. Acanthoscurria
  2. Brachypelma
  3. Gramostola
  4. Lasiodora

IV. Symptoms

  1. Bite reactions
    1. Mild stinging with minimal inflammation at bite site
    2. No local necrosis or systemic reactions
  2. Skin exposure to hairs on dorsal Tarantula body
    1. Severe localized Pruritus
  3. Eye exposure to hairs on dorsal Tarantula body
    1. Corneal Foreign Body reaction
    2. Causes ophthalmia nodosa or keratoconjunctivitis

V. Management: Symptomatic

  1. Thorough Wound Cleansing
  2. Tetanus Prophylaxis
  3. Elevate extremity
  4. Oral Analgesics

VI. Management: Eye reactions (Ophthalmia nodosa)

  1. Immediate ophthalmology referral

VII. Course

  1. Bites
    1. Bites have mild effects in humans
    2. Bites may be lethal in animals (esp. dogs)
  2. Eye reaction: Ophthalmia nodosa
    1. Risk of Keratitis, Uveitis, chorioretinitis

VIII. References

  1. Diaz (2007) Am Fam Physician 75(6):869-73 [PubMed]
  2. Isbister (2003) Toxicon 41:519-24 [PubMed]
  3. Rutzen (1993) Am J Ophthalmol 116:381-2 [PubMed]

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Related Studies

Ontology: Tarantula Venoms (C0087061)

Concepts Biologically Active Substance (T123) , Hazardous or Poisonous Substance (T131)
MSH D013111
English Venoms, Tarantula, Tarantula Venoms
French Venins de tarentule
Italian Veleni della tarantola
Czech tarantule - jedy
Derived from the NIH UMLS (Unified Medical Language System)

Ontology: Poisoning due to tarantula spider venom (C0413112)

Concepts Injury or Poisoning (T037)
SnomedCT 217668003
Spanish envenenamiento por picadura de tarántula (trastorno), envenenamiento por picadura de tarántula (hallazgo), envenenamiento por picadura de tarántula
English Poison-tarantula spider venom, Poisoning due to tarantula spider venom, Poisoning due to tarantula spider venom (finding), Poisoning due to tarantula spider venom (disorder)
Derived from the NIH UMLS (Unified Medical Language System)

Related Topics in Dermatology

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