Intrathecal antitetanus serum (horse) in the treatment of tetanus.

The research involves studying the effect of intrathecal antitetanus serum (horse) on patients suffering from tetanus over a period of two years. It was found that this treatment reduces overall mortality compared to a control series, and it seems to perform better than high doses of the same serum. Intrathecal antitetanus serum, when combined with systemic antitetanus serum, betamethasone and diazepam, has promising effects.

Study Details

• This research is a two-year-long observational study involving 322 cases of tetanus in patients over twelve months old. These patients were all being treated at a rural hospital with conservative treatment methods.
• The treatment given was intrathecal administration, which means directly into the spinal canal, of 200 units of antitetanus serum (A.T.S.) developed from horse serum. A control series was created for comparison purposes.

Study Findings

• The overall mortality rate in the group treated with 200 units of intrathecal A.T.S. was drastically reduced to 4-5% (5 out of 110 patients), compared to 14-5% (16 out of 111 patients) in the control series.
• Peculiarly, 200 units of given intrathecal A.T.S. was found to be more effective than 1500 units of the same serum. It was observed that the method of administration, whether lumbar or cisternal, didn’t make any significant difference on the efficacy of the treatment.

Suggested Therapeutic Regimen

• The researchers recommended considering tetanus as a multisystemic disorder, implying that it affects multiple systems in the body and thus, needs to be treated with a multisystemic approach.
• They suggested a treatment regimen where intrathecal A.T.S. is offered as a supplement to a low dosage systemic A.T.S., along with high levels of systemic betamethasone and diazepam. This treatment strategy is complemented with careful nursing.
• Upon comparing the results with those obtained from centres having more advanced equipment and specialised staff, the regimen here proved to be equally effective, highlighting the potential of this less intensive and more accessible therapeutic approach in treating tetanus.

Conclusions

• This research shows the promising potential of intrathecal administration of antitetanus serum in reducing the mortality rate in tetanus patients. Even though it’s derived from horse serum, high effectiveness is seen with lower dosage levels and regardless of the method of administration.
• The proposed combined therapeutic regimen, employing a multi-systemic approach along with non-invasive and accessible treatment methods, can potentially be very effective for treating tetanus, particularly in settings where advanced medical resources might not be widely available.