Tarantula spider bite

Background

Tarantula

Clinical Features

• Abdominal hairs may be flicked a short distance when threatened
  • Rarely penetrate human skin but can imbed deeply into conjunctiva and cornea
• Bites can be painful but systemic symptoms other than fever are unusual

Differential Diagnosis

Envenomations, bites and stings

• Hymenoptera stings (bees, wasps, ants)
• Mammalian bites
  • Closed fist infection (Fight bite)
  • Dog bite
• Marine toxins and envenomations
  • Toxins (ciguatera, neurotoxic shellfish poisoning, paralytic shellfish poisoning, scombroid, tetrodotoxin
  • Stingers (stingray injury)
  • Venomous fish (catfish, zebrafish, scorpion fish, stonefish, cone shells, lionfish, sea urchins)
  • Nematocysts (coral reef, fire coral, box jellyfish, sea wasp, portuguese man-of-war, sea anemones)
  • Phylum porifera (sponges)
  • Bites (alligator/crocodile, octopus, shark)
• Scorpion envenomation
• Reptile envenomation
  • Snake bites
    • Crotaline (Pit Vipers)
    • Elapidae (Coral Snakes)
  • Lizard bites
• Spider bites
  • Black widow
  • Brown recluse
  • Tarantula
  • Funnel-web spider bite
  • Armed spider bite

Diagnosis

• Usually clinical

Management

• Red eye and pain after handling a tarantula necessitates an ocular exam
  • Hairs may be difficult to detect on slit lamp
  • Treatment may require surgical removal of hairs
• Imbedded cutaneous hairs that are barbed may be removed with duct tape or cellophane tape followed by irrigation with sodium chloride.
• Urticarial reactions can be treated with oral antihistamines and/or topical/systemic corticosteroids.

See Also

• Bites and Stings