Ng V Ch, Lit A Ch, Wong O F, Tse M L, Fung H T
Hong Kong Poison Information Centre, United Christian Hospital, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong.
Accident and Emergency Department, North Lantau Hospital, Tung Chung, Lantau, Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Med J. 2018 Feb;24(1):48-55. doi: 10.12809/hkmj176984. Epub 2018 Jan 5.
Exotic pets are increasingly popular in Hong Kong and include fish, amphibians, reptiles, and arthropods. Some of these exotic animals are venomous and may cause injuries to and envenomation of their owners. The clinical experience of emergency physicians in the management of injuries and envenomation by these exotic animals is limited. We reviewed the clinical features and outcomes of injuries and envenomation by exotic pets recorded by the Hong Kong Poison Information Centre.
We retrospectively retrieved and reviewed cases of injuries and envenomation by exotic pets recorded by the Hong Kong Poison Information Centre from 1 July 2008 to 31 March 2017.
There were 15 reported cases of injuries and envenomation by exotic pets during the study period, including snakebite (n=6), fish sting (n=4), scorpion sting (n=2), lizard bite (n=2), and turtle bite (n=1). There were two cases of major effects from the envenomation, seven cases with moderate effects, and six cases with mild effects. All major effects were related to venomous snakebites. There were no mortalities.
All human injuries from exotic pets arose from reptiles, scorpions, and fish. All cases of major envenomation were inflicted by snakes.
外来宠物在香港越来越受欢迎，包括鱼类、两栖动物、爬行动物和节肢动物。其中一些外来动物有毒，可能会对其主人造成伤害和中毒。急诊医生在处理这些外来动物造成的伤害和中毒方面的临床经验有限。我们回顾了香港中毒信息中心记录的外来宠物造成的伤害和中毒的临床特征及结果。
我们回顾性检索并分析了香港中毒信息中心在2008年7月1日至2017年3月31日期间记录的外来宠物造成的伤害和中毒病例。
在研究期间，共报告了15例外来宠物造成的伤害和中毒病例，包括蛇咬伤（n = 6）、鱼刺伤（n = 4）、蝎子蜇伤（n = 2）、蜥蜴咬伤（n = 2）和乌龟咬伤（n = 1）。有2例中毒产生严重影响，7例产生中度影响，6例产生轻度影响。所有严重影响均与毒蛇咬伤有关。无死亡病例。
所有外来宠物造成的人类伤害均来自爬行动物、蝎子和鱼类。所有严重中毒病例均由蛇所致。
