Fire coral envenomation
Background [1]
- Location is worldwide (excluding Hawaii) in reefs & shallow waters.
- white to yellow-green appearance that are fixed to rocks and coral.
- They possess tentacles that extend upward & are roughly 2m in length.
Clinical Features[2]
- Contact with tentacles causes painful, urticarial lesions that may become hemorrhagic and ulcerate.
- Symptoms can last up to 72 hours with skin hyperpigmentation that can last for several weeks.
Differential Diagnosis
Marine toxins, envenomations, and bites
- Toxins
- Ciguatera
- Scombroid
- Tetrodotoxin (e.g. pufferfish)
- Shellfish poisoning
- Amnesic shellfish poisoning
- Diarrheal shellfish poisoning
- Neurotoxic shellfish poisoning
- Paralytic shellfish poisoning
- Stingers
- Venomous fish
- Cone shell
- Lionfish
- Sea urchins
- Crown-of-Thorns Starfish
- Stonefish
- Other: Catfish, zebrafish, scorpion fish
- Nematocysts
- Coral reef
- Fire coral
- Jellyfish (Cnidaria)
- Portuguese man-of-war
- Sea anemones
- Seabather's eruption
- Phylum porifera (sponges)
- Bites
- Infections
Management
Disposition
See Also
- ↑ Hauglid, Christopher, DO, et al. “EMERGEN-SEA MEDICINE: An Overview of Sea Urchins, Coral, Starfish, and More.” ACEP Now, vol. 40, no. 7, 2021, pp. 8–9.
- ↑ Hauglid, Christopher, DO, et al. “EMERGEN-SEA MEDICINE: An Overview of Sea Urchins, Coral, Starfish, and More.” ACEP Now, vol. 40, no. 7, 2021, pp. 8–9.