Delayed but effective treatment of red-back spider envenomation

A red-back spider bite in a lymphoedematous arm

We administered a record eight ampoules of antivenom over one week to a 55-year-old woman with a red-back spider bite on her chronically lymphoedematous right arm. She had severe local signs of envenomation but relatively little systemic effect. The final antivenom dose, injected subcutaneously at the bite site, had a good effect.