Latrodectism in a pediatric patient
Abstract
Introduction: the set of symptoms and signs caused by the bite of the spider Latrodectus mactans, called black widow, is known as latrodectism. In Cuba there are few studies carried out and published in this regard. Only four cases have been reported in adults in an article of the year 1998 and one in a teenager in 2006, all of the province of Ciego de Ávila.
Objective: to present the case of a pediatric patient poisoned by the bite of a black widow spider, of interest because it is infrequent.
Case presentation: female patient, eight years old, white skin, resident in a suburban area of Gaspar village, Baraguá municipality, Ciego de Ávila province. She was bitten by a small, black spider. He presented dizziness, pain in the abdomen and left thigh, and marked pallor. She was hospitalized and later manifested pain in both lower limbs, numbness, sweating in hands and feet, and insomnia. This clinical picture remained several days. Complementary tests were normal. Electrocardiogram detected sinus tachycardia. The treatment consisted of 10 % calcium gluconate in intravenous perfusion, sedation and pain relief.
Conclusions: physicians in rural or suburban areas should be aware of the possibility of receiving patients with latrodectism, due to the nonspecific clinical picture, which makes diagnosis difficult. It would be convenient to carry out toxicological studies in Cuba about Latrodectus mactans, due to the health problem that implies its toxicity and not having the specific antidoteDownloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
MediCiego does not apply publication charges. The journal is available in open access without restrictions, in compliance with the international policy on open access to information for the exchange of global knowledge.
The authors will retain their copyright and guarantee the journal the right of first publication of their work. MediCiego is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.es_ES), so it is allowed to copy, reproduce, distribute, publicly communicate the work and generate derivative works, as long as the original author is cited and acknowledged. However, it is not allowed to use the original work for commercial or lucrative purposes.
Authors must sign a copyright agreement through an affidavit of authorship and originality, before publishing.
The authors authorize the publication of their writings; they retain the copyright, and assign to the journal all the rights protected by the Copyright Law that governs Cuba, and implies the edition to disseminate the work.
Likewise, they may establish additional agreements for the non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in the journal (for example, placing it in an institutional repository or publishing it in a book), with the recognition of having been first published in this journal.
Declaration of authorship: download here the Affidavit