jeremyjosl
New Member
Originally Posted by cubfan
just a side note. lion stings are not fatal to humans, unless one is highly allergic (anaphylaxis) to bee stings or other venoms. Hospital treatment will consist of supportive care. ie. oxygen, pressor drugs(to keep blood pressure stable) until patient is ready to go home. Hot water will break down venom to less harmful by products. While not a fun experience, most lion stings are equated to really bad bee stings.
Hello. Just to clarify what actual treatment should be and to correct this last statement a bit, let me add the following to the conversation:
1.) Being allergic to bee stings or other venoms has no relation to being allergic to lionfish stings. An allergy must always be "learned" by the body. Therefore, in order to be allergic to lionfish venom you must have been previously stung by a lionfish (your body only then sets itself up for an allergic reaction the next time, or time after that, or time after that, or never). As a corollary, previous exposure to bee venom does not set you up for allergy to lionfish venom... it sets you up for allergy to bee venom. Finally, some people seem to be more allergy prone than others, and so they may have a higher chance of developing an allergy, but the same basic rules still apply.
2.) While it is true that your local ER doc might not be 100% up on lionfish stings, he/she would have instant access to information needed for the correct treatment. This would not include oxygen or pressor drugs (drugs given to prop up blood pressure while someone is very seriously ill and in shock). Treatment is immersion in hot water (45 degrees celsius) for at least 30 minutes. A visit to the ER or your regular doc's office is warranted due to the incidence of infection from these stings. Your tetanus status should be up-to-date, and the wound might be x-ray'ed to check for any left over foreign bodies (tip of stinger) which drastically increases chances of infection. Lastly, pain control is more likely to be "adequate" in the ER though at home you'd be better off with ibuprofen than other pain relievers since NSAIDs control prostoglandins well (the physiologic signal for pain).
3.) In response to someone else who mentioned antivenom, there is an antivenom that was developed for the family Scorpaenidae; however, this antivenom is used more so for the much worse sting of the stonefish and is not recommended for use with the lionfish (unless there are extreme circumstances).
Hope this info helps clear things up and gives everyone a little more knowledge of the lionfish sting. I don't mean to make anyone look bad, but I would rather have people have correct information whenever possible. Besides, I'm very interested in these fish as well and enjoyed a quick brush-up on the literature for this topic.
Jeremy Joslin, MD
just a side note. lion stings are not fatal to humans, unless one is highly allergic (anaphylaxis) to bee stings or other venoms. Hospital treatment will consist of supportive care. ie. oxygen, pressor drugs(to keep blood pressure stable) until patient is ready to go home. Hot water will break down venom to less harmful by products. While not a fun experience, most lion stings are equated to really bad bee stings.
Hello. Just to clarify what actual treatment should be and to correct this last statement a bit, let me add the following to the conversation:
1.) Being allergic to bee stings or other venoms has no relation to being allergic to lionfish stings. An allergy must always be "learned" by the body. Therefore, in order to be allergic to lionfish venom you must have been previously stung by a lionfish (your body only then sets itself up for an allergic reaction the next time, or time after that, or time after that, or never). As a corollary, previous exposure to bee venom does not set you up for allergy to lionfish venom... it sets you up for allergy to bee venom. Finally, some people seem to be more allergy prone than others, and so they may have a higher chance of developing an allergy, but the same basic rules still apply.
2.) While it is true that your local ER doc might not be 100% up on lionfish stings, he/she would have instant access to information needed for the correct treatment. This would not include oxygen or pressor drugs (drugs given to prop up blood pressure while someone is very seriously ill and in shock). Treatment is immersion in hot water (45 degrees celsius) for at least 30 minutes. A visit to the ER or your regular doc's office is warranted due to the incidence of infection from these stings. Your tetanus status should be up-to-date, and the wound might be x-ray'ed to check for any left over foreign bodies (tip of stinger) which drastically increases chances of infection. Lastly, pain control is more likely to be "adequate" in the ER though at home you'd be better off with ibuprofen than other pain relievers since NSAIDs control prostoglandins well (the physiologic signal for pain).
3.) In response to someone else who mentioned antivenom, there is an antivenom that was developed for the family Scorpaenidae; however, this antivenom is used more so for the much worse sting of the stonefish and is not recommended for use with the lionfish (unless there are extreme circumstances).
Hope this info helps clear things up and gives everyone a little more knowledge of the lionfish sting. I don't mean to make anyone look bad, but I would rather have people have correct information whenever possible. Besides, I'm very interested in these fish as well and enjoyed a quick brush-up on the literature for this topic.
Jeremy Joslin, MD
