ALL 32 patients recovered without sequelae. The retrospective nature of this study confounds the conclusions. Although the initial treatment recommendations may not have included deferoxamine, deferoxamine would certainly have been added to the treatment regimen if the patient's clinical status had deteriorated, and the patient would have been excluded from the study. Possibly as a result of the study inclusion criteria, all the patients did well. Brown recluse spider venom can cause large necrotic ulcers that ultimately require surgical treatment.
Therapies vary widely and seem largely ineffective.
White rabbits and humans have histopathologically similar responses to brown recluse spider envenomation. There was no significant difference in lesion size or progression between the three therapies or controls. These findings lend additional weight to the mounting body of evidence suggesting that there is currently no effective treatment for this spider's bite. Dapsone, cyproheptadine, and hyperbaric oxygen do not appear to be effective treatment for brown recluse spider envenomation . Glucagon therapy for calcium channel blocker overdoses has had anectdotal success in a number of cases.