RESUMO
Scorpion sting is a health problem in some places of Mexico. The clinical manifestations of scorpion envenomation are variable and include metabolic alterations. Hyperkalemia is the most frequently reported metabolic alteration. We conducted a prospective, observational, descriptive and transversal study in an emergency room at Hospital del Niño Morelense, Mexico. Eighty-two patients were included and classified as mild (17 percent) moderate (33 percent) and severe (46 percent). The mean serum level of sodium was 146.4meq/l, standard deviation (SD) 5.58; potassium 3.86meq/l, SD 0.53, and calcium 9.55mg/dl, SD 0.76. We found 30.4 percent hypernatremia, 12 percent hypokalemia, 10.9 percent abdominal distension, and 14.6 percent visual alterations.
Assuntos
Humanos , Masculino , Feminino , Lactente , Pré-Escolar , Criança , Adolescente , Picada de Aranha/complicações , Picada de Aranha/epidemiologia , Hospitalização/estatística & dados numéricos , Pediatria/estatística & dados numéricos , Índice de Gravidade de Doença , Venenos de Escorpião/toxicidade , México/epidemiologiaRESUMO
Scorpion sting is a public health problem in Mexico (Toxicon, 32 (1994) 1015). Since the most severe cases occur in children, cases treated at the Hospital del Niño Morelense, Cuernavaca, during the entire year of 1997 were registered and studied. During this 12-month period, 163 cases required medical attention, with the following results: 45% were mild, 25% moderate and 30% were severe cases of envenoming. Thanks to anti-venom therapy none of the children died. The most frequently observed clinical symptoms were: local pain and redness, salivation, dysphagia, tachycardia, irritability, odynophagia, paresthesia, nasal pruritus and emesis. The mild cases had one or two symptoms, moderate envenoming was characterized by several of the symptoms, whereas severe cases had most of the clinical symptoms listed. The moderate and severe cases were all treated with horse F(ab)2-anti-venom, while the mild cases were kept only for observation. Male children constituted 63% of the cases. The mean time that elapsed between sting and first medical attention was 54min.