Prolonged bleeding due to a medicinal leech bite: another treatment method, primary suture
Case report published in BMJ Case Reports (2012)
Abstract
Medicinal leeches have been used in the treatment of many diseases for thousands of years. A 25-year-old man presented to our emergency department with bleeding from right and left side of his neck. He had applied leeches 10 h previously to both sides of his neck to treat acne. The bleeding was not controlled by applying pressure with sterile gauze upon the wounds. Homeostasis was achieved by primary suture under local anaesthesia. Prolonged bleeding can be seen following medical leech application. In such cases, bleeding can be controlled by primary suture.
Abstract sourced from PubMed (NCBI) for the cited record. See the original publication for the authoritative version.
Summary
25-year-old man with prolonged bleeding from neck after applying leeches for acne; bleeding was not controlled by gauze pressure but resolved with primary suture under local anesthesia.
Why This Matters for Hirudotherapy
This case report describes a 25-year-old man who presented with bleeding from both sides of his neck about ten hours after applying medicinal leeches for acne, with bleeding not controlled by sterile gauze pressure. Bleeding was controlled by primary suture under local anaesthesia. The authors note that prolonged bleeding can occur after medicinal leech application and that primary suture may control bleeding in such cases. Caveat: this is a single case report; it provides no systematic data on the incidence, expected duration, or comparative effectiveness of hemostatic methods for post-leech bleeding, and the abstract does not specify the leech species beyond medicinal leeches.
Citation
Prolonged bleeding due to a medicinal leech bite: another treatment method, primary suture.
Zengin S et al. · BMJ Case Reports, 2012
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