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Case Report

A Rare Case of Leech Therapy Induced Right Foot and Leg Cellulitis with Septic Shock

Aisvarya Kapoor, Ritul Srivastava, Kishalay Datta

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Attribution-Non-commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

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Indian Journal of Emergency Medicine 8(2):p 53-57, April – June 2022. | DOI: https://doi.org/10.21088/ijem.2395.311X.8222.6

How Cite This Article:

Ritul Srivastava, Aisvarya Kapoor, Kishalay Datta/A Rare Case of Leech Therapy Induced Right Foot and Leg Cellulitis with Septic Shock/Indian J Emerg Med 2022;8(2):53–57.

Timeline

Received : March 07, 2022         Accepted : April 11, 2022          Published : June 28, 2022

Abstract

A 57 year old female came to emergency department with complaint ofpain and swelling over right foot and leg distally. On local examination there was multiple scar marks with redness and blisters formation. Patient was also giving complaint of discharge from the site since night yesterday. On further examination the patient was conscious and little drowsy but in arousable state. On further evaluation, the patient was hypotensive with tachycardia andtachypnoea. Patient was known case of Arthritis and Hypothyroidism. On further assessment attendants gave history of Leech therapy over right foot and leg distally since 20 days prior coming to emergency department. The leech therapy was started at an Ayurvedic hospital for detoxification from steroid. Patient was on steroids since long time for arthritis and she was told in ayurvedic hospital that leech therapy will detoxify her blood and remove excess steroids from her body. Patient was immediately taken on to symptomatic supportive treatment with intravenous antibiotics, intravenous fluids and ionotropic support. All relevant investigations sent from emergency department and patient was admitted in Intensive Care Unit for observation. Patient was discharged after 5 days in haemodynamically stable condition.

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Data Sharing Statement

There are no additional data available. All raw data and code are available upon request.

Funding

This research received no funding.

Author Contributions

All authors contributed significantly to the work and approve its publication.

Ethics Declaration

This article does not involve any human or animal subjects, and therefore does not require ethics approval.

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to the patients, their families, and all those who have contributed to this study.

Conflicts of Interest

No conflicts of interest in this work.

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Cite this article

Ritul Srivastava, Aisvarya Kapoor, Kishalay Datta/A Rare Case of Leech Therapy Induced Right Foot and Leg Cellulitis with Septic Shock/Indian J Emerg Med 2022;8(2):53–57.

Licence:

Attribution-Non-commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.

Received Accepted Published
March 07, 2022 April 11, 2022 June 28, 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21088/ijem.2395.311X.8222.6

Keywords

CellulitisSeptic shockLeech therapy (Hirudomedicinalis)

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Received March 07, 2022
Accepted April 11, 2022
Published June 28, 2022

licence

Attribution-Non-commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.


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