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Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffIn most cases of tetanus, the illness is severe, and there's a risk of death despite treatment. Death may result from constriction of airways, pneumonia or instability in the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is the part of your nervous system that controls your heart muscles, other involuntary muscles and glands.
Treatment may consist of certain medications, as well as supportive care.
Medications
- Antitoxin. Your doctor may give you a tetanus antitoxin, such as tetanus immune globulin (TIG). However, the antitoxin can neutralize only toxin that hasn't yet combined with nerve tissue.
- Antibiotics. Your doctor may also give you antibiotics, either orally or by injection, to fight tetanus bacteria.
- Vaccine. You'll also need to receive a tetanus vaccine in order to prevent future tetanus infection.
Supportive therapies
Tetanus infection often requires a long period of treatment in an intensive care setting. You may need drugs to sedate you and to paralyze your muscles, and that may result in shallow breathing that needs to be supported temporarily by a ventilator.
People who've had tetanus often recover completely. However, some people have lasting effects, such as brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen when muscle spasms in the throat cut off the airway.
