Sunday, November 4, 2012

SCORPION BITE

If you have watched SKYFALL where Bond is playing with a scorpion, you would think it was cool . Wait till you will have a bite too. The pain is so excruciating very difficult to relieve with ordinary pain relievers. There is a burning sensation inside the tissues and the pain shoots into other parts of the body. Then, the bite site swells double the size of the affected area and starts to darken.  A vesicle forms and in 24 hours, this bursts and leaves a large raw weeping area. It does not heal until the venom disappears  and will need skin grafting to cover the wound. If the affected area is the upper extremity, amputation is more likely.
Anti venom injections are not available in many third world countries where the incidence of scorpion bite is more prevalent.  What we do is to inject steroids to mask the effect of the venom. It is the only medical armamentarium we have. 

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