Administration of a Second Dose Antivenom in the Early Period: Is It Effective in Scorpion Stings?

Aim: It has been known for years that the toxic effects of scorpion envenomation can be fatal.Scorpion antivenom administration reduces the severity of systemic toxicity and fatal complications resulting from envenomation.In cases where clinical progression is poor, a second dose of antivenom can be applied.We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a second dose of antivenom in this study. Materials and Methods:One hundred patients between 0-17 years who were followed up due to scorpion stings or poisonings in Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics between October 2016 and March 2018 were analyzed for age, gender, season, site of scorpion stings, clinical findings, treatment, follow-up steps and the effects of a second dose of antivenom on clinical progression retrospectively.Results: Of the total 100 patients, 45 were female (45%) and 55 were male (55%).The average age of the patients was 3.5 years.Sting locations in order of frequency were as follows; feet, hands, legs, arms, head-neck, genital area.Single dose antivenom was given to 26 patients and a second dose was given to the remaining 74 patients.All patients recovered except two patients who were referred with cardiopulmonary insufficiency and passed away. Conclusion:We observed that early antivenom therapy reduces the risk of developing systemic toxicity and also an administered second dose of antivenom corrects systemic findings.We think that the second dose of antivenom should be applied at the 8 th hour especially in pediatric patients with ongoing serious systemic findings and all patients should be observed for at least 24 hours.