Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T20:25:13.394Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

3.4.5 - Tetanus

from Section 3.4 - Neurological Impairment and Injury

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2023

Ned Gilbert-Kawai
Affiliation:
The Royal Liverpool Hospital
Debashish Dutta
Affiliation:
Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust, Harlow
Carl Waldmann
Affiliation:
Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading
Get access

Summary

Key Learning Points

  1. 1. Tetanus is a potentially lethal condition that must be considered in patients with muscle spasms and inadequate immunisation.

  2. 2. Initial management focuses on administration of human tetanus immunoglobulin, followed by wound cleaning and debridement.

  3. 3. Patients with shorter incubation periods have increased disease severity and mortality.

  4. 4. Supportive care is the mainstay of management to avoid complications such as fractures, rhabdomyolysis and respiratory failure.

  5. 5. Autonomic instability indicates severe disease and is the most common cause of death.

Type
Chapter
Information
Intensive Care Medicine
The Essential Guide
, pp. 191 - 193
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References and Further Reading

Ahmadsyah, I, Salim, A. Treatment of tetanus: an open study to compare the efficacy of procaine penicillin and metronidazole. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1985;291:648.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rushdy, AA, White, JM, Ramsay, ME, Crowcroft, NS. Tetanus in England and Wales, 1984–2000. Epidemiol Infect 2003;130:71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Santos, ML, Mota-Miranda, A, Alves-Pereira, A, et al. Intrathecal baclofen for the treatment of tetanus. Clin Infect Dis 2004;38:321.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thwaites, CL, Farrar, JJ. Preventing and treating tetanus. BMJ 2003;326:117.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thwaites, CL, Yen, LM, Loan, HT, et al. Magnesium sulphate for treatment of severe tetanus: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2006;368:1436.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×