Spider Bite, Brown Recluse
Basics
Description
Description
Local or systemic illness caused by brown recluse spider bite envenomation
Etiology
Etiology
- Brown recluse spider (also known as the fiddleback spider) features:
- Appearance:
- Delicate body and legs spanning 10–25 mm
- Tan- to dark-brown with darker violin-shaped marking visible on the upper aspect of the head
- 3 pairs of eyes
- Found widely throughout the south-central part of the U.S.
- Habitat: Typically warm and dry locations, indoors or outdoors such as wood piles, bundles of rags, cellars, under rocks, or in attics
- Bites are typically defensive
- Appearance:
- Mechanism of toxicity:
- Venom is a complex cocktail of enzymes and peptides that:
- Binds to RBC and causes hemolysis
- Causes prostaglandin release and activates complement cascade
- Causes lipolysis and tissue necrosis
- Triggers platelet aggregation and thrombosis
- Triggers allergic response to venom antigenic properties
- May lead to shock and DIC in rare cases
- Toxicity proportional to:
- The amount of venom relative to the size of patient
- Location of envenomation on the body
- Venom is a complex cocktail of enzymes and peptides that:
Pediatric Considerations
- Children are more vulnerable to a given amount of venom than healthy adults
- Fatality more common in children due to severe intravascular hemolysis
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Citation
Schaider, Jeffrey J., et al., editors. "Spider Bite, Brown Recluse." 5-Minute Emergency Consult, 6th ed., Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2020. Emergency Central, emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/5-Minute_Emergency_Consult/307157/all/Spider_Bite__Brown_Recluse.
Spider Bite, Brown Recluse. In: Schaider JJJ, Barkin RMR, Hayden SRS, et al, eds. 5-Minute Emergency Consult. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2020. https://emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/5-Minute_Emergency_Consult/307157/all/Spider_Bite__Brown_Recluse. Accessed October 9, 2024.
Spider Bite, Brown Recluse. (2020). In Schaider, J. J., Barkin, R. M., Hayden, S. R., Wolfe, R. E., Barkin, A. Z., Shayne, P., & Rosen, P. (Eds.), 5-Minute Emergency Consult (6th ed.). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. https://emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/5-Minute_Emergency_Consult/307157/all/Spider_Bite__Brown_Recluse
Spider Bite, Brown Recluse [Internet]. In: Schaider JJJ, Barkin RMR, Hayden SRS, Wolfe RER, Barkin AZA, Shayne PP, Rosen PP, editors. 5-Minute Emergency Consult. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2020. [cited 2024 October 09]. Available from: https://emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/5-Minute_Emergency_Consult/307157/all/Spider_Bite__Brown_Recluse.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
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T1 - Spider Bite, Brown Recluse
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ED - Schaider,Jeffrey J,
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ED - Hayden,Stephen R,
ED - Wolfe,Richard E,
BT - 5-Minute Emergency Consult
UR - https://emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/5-Minute_Emergency_Consult/307157/all/Spider_Bite__Brown_Recluse
PB - Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
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DP - Unbound Medicine
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