The bite of the black widow spider is typically associated with muscle cramping, pain, tachycardia and hypertension. What uncommon urologic problem has been reportedly limited to pediatric patients?
The answer is priapism. According to the cited reference, “Despite black widow bites being a fairly common event, only 3 prior cases of priapism after black widow spider bites were noted in the literature. Each case…….involved children who were eventually treated with black widow antivenom and had gradual resolution of priapism. In addition to the priapism, the patients also demonstrated more classic symptoms of latrodectism, including a painful abdomen, hypertension and tachycardia.” (Bush S et al. Priapism after western black widow spider (Latrodectus Hesperus) envenomation. 2014 Wilderness & Env Med 25:80-81)