Brown Recluse Bite

Initially the bite site is mildly red and upon close inspection may reveal fang marks. Most commonly, the bite site will become firm and heal with little scaring over the next few days or weeks. Occasionally, the local reaction will be more severe with erythema (redness) and blistering, sometimes leading to a blue discoloration, and ultimately leading to a necrotic lesion (tissue death) and scaring. In the example shown here, the bite area swelled to the size of a quarter within an hour and by the end of the first day continued to swell and turned blue and dark red.

Progression of brown recluse spider bite (day nine) After the ninth day, severe destructive necrotic lesions with deep wide borders result. The patient endured eight days with an open wound to drain the spider's toxins and needed intravenous antibiotics and pain medication almost 24 hours per day.

Progression of brown recluse spider bite (day 38) Eleven days after the bite, a five inch wide area of dead tissue was excised, necessitating skin grafting. This image shows the skin graft results 38 days after the bite.

Progression of brown recluse spider bite (day 38) Eleven days after the bite, a five inch wide area of dead tissue was excised, necessitating skin grafting. This image shows the skin graft results 38 days after the bite.

Progression of brown recluse spider bite (10 months) View of healed brown recluse wound approximately 10 months after the bite.