BACKGROUND This review provides the physician with a clinical approach to the diagnosis and management of spider bites. It examines the recent literature concerning management of bites causing dermonecrosis, secondary infection, neuromuscular damage, and allergic reactions. METHODS Using the key words "spider bites," "brown recluse spider bites," "necrotic arachnidism," "black widow spider bi...

In 1970-7 17 people in Britain were the victims of 32 bites by foreign venomous snakes. Crotalus atrox caused eight of these bites, Bitis arietans five, and the remaining 19 bites were caused by 12 different species. All the victims were bitten while handling the snake, and 24 bites were incurred by private individuals in their own homes. Poisoning was negligible in 17 of the 32 bites but life-...

www.thelancet.com Published online July 16, 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60687-0 1 In The Lancet, Eva Deerenberg and colleagues’ prospective, multicentre, double-blind, randomised controlled STITCH trial shows that the rate of incisional hernia is lower with small tissue bites than with large bites. This fi nding contradicts what surgeons have thought and been taught for many de...

BACKGROUND: Mammals that live closely and interact with man and man himself can inflict injury on children in the home through bites. Previous reports on mammalian bites in Nigeria are few and mainly on dogs, though other mammals also inflict injuries on children. There are also no reports on the injuries arising from the bites of these other mammals. OBJECTIVE: To document the range, pattern, ...

The phylum Arthropoda includes arachnids and insects. Although their bites typically cause only local reactions, some species are venomous or transmit disease. The two medically important spiders in the United States are widow spiders (Latrodectus), the bite of which causes intense muscle spasms, and the brown recluse (Loxosceles), which may cause skin necrosis. Widow bites usually respond to n...