Abdominal Rigidity and Lower Extremity Weakness due to a Latrodectus Bite in Greece: A Case Report

Latrodectus, or "black widow" spiders, are found worldwide. Black widow envenomations are rare occurrences in Greece. Black widow bites cause unremarkable local lesions that may also include systemic signs and symptoms. Our purpose is to present a rare case of a black widow spider bite. Herein, we report the case of a 66-year-old farmer who presented to our hospital due to abdominal pain and was admitted after he was bitten by a black widow spider. Our patient showed the typical symptoms of latrodectism, that is, rubor and pain at the bite spot, washboard abdomen, rhabdomyolysis, and lower-extremities neuromuscular paralysis. Our case was complicated by acute renal failure, which is not common in such cases. A quite remarkable finding is the detection and capture of the culprit arthropod from the patient's clothes and its identification by expert military veterinarian-arachnologists. The patient was completely cured and discharged after a week-long hospitalization. Black widow spider bites, rare as they may be, especially in Greece, should be considered within the differential diagnosis of unremarkable local lesions, rhabdomyolysis, or acute renal failure.