The proliferation of acoustic risk-taking behaviors and lack of hearing conservation practices in children and adolescents requires attention at an early age to prevent future noise-induced hearing loss and subsequent quality of life effects.
Although in the majority of patients (90%), the bite wound of brown recluse spider resolves spontaneously, some patients may experience a severe reaction requiring hospitalization. A 25-year-old male developed severe hemolytic anemia, jaundice, and other complications following a brown recluse spider bite on his posterior right thigh. He was treated with methylprednisolone, antibiotics, and red blood cells (RBCs) transfusion without response. Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) was added to the treatment regimen, and his hemoglobin (Hb) was eventually stabilized, leading to significant clinical improvement. The beneficial effect of TPE in the current case was compared to three other reported cases. We recommend close monitoring of Hb levels in patients with systemic loxoscelism during the first week after brown recluse spider bite and early implementation of TPE in the management of severe acute hemolysis when patients do not respond to usual treatment modalities and RBC transfusion.
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