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Iguana bites reported to Texas poison centers

Mathias B Forrester1

  • 1Department of State Health Services, Austin, TX 78756, USA. mathias.forrester@dshs.state.tx.us

The American Journal of Emergency Medicine
|September 15, 2010
PubMed

Although thousands of iguanas are kept as pets in the United States, information on their bites is limited. The intent of this investigation was to describe the pattern of iguana bites reported to Texas poison centers. Iguana bites reported during 1998-2008 were identified. The distribution of cases by various factors was determined. Of 59 total bites, 71% were managed on-site, 17% of the patients were at or en route to a health care facility when the poison center was contacted, and 10% were referred to a health care facility. The medical outcome was no effect in 9% of the cases, minor effect in 24%, moderate effect in 2%, not followed but minimal effects possible in 64%, and unable to follow but potentially toxic in 2%. Most iguana bites reported to Texas poison centers did not result in serious effects and were managed on-site.

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