Injuries from spider spines, not spider bites

Most injuries from spiders are due to their bites. Skin and eye injuries have been reported following contact with hairs of some theraphosid spiders (tarantulas). Some large spiders have relatively large spines on their legs and it was hypothesized that these may cause injury in some cases of suspected spider bite, and may account for "splinters" uncommonly seen at bite sites. Fifteen cases of suspected injury from spider leg spines were recruited prospectively over 3y. In all cases "splinters" were seen at the site. In II cases therewas a definite bite in addition to the spine injury. There were 2 definite cases where spines were collected, identified and confirmed to be from the spider. In most cases the spider was from the family Sparassidae (huntsman spiders). In I definite case the patient was bitten, grabbed the spider and was stabbed by the spines in the fingers; he developed redness, swelling and itchiness at the site of the injury lasting over a week. The other definite case occurred when a frozen spider was picked up for venom gland dissection; more than 5 spines became embedded in the finger causing transient pain. This study establishes for the first time that larger spiders can cause injuries with their leg spines, and this occurs commonly in conjunction with a bite by the spider. This explains the presence of "splinters" at some bite sites. The spines mainly caused a simple mechanical injury, although in 1 case there was a delayed inflammatory reaction.