Successful Treatment of Multiple Organ Failure After Wasp Stings in an Elderly Patient

Abstract

Although all kinds of complication have been reported after wasp stings, multiple organ failure following wasp attacks is very rare. In the past, the mortality of patients with multiple organ failure treated by conventional therapy after wasp stings was very high. Here, we report on a 65-year-old individual who developed multiple organ failure following wasp stings. When the patient was admitted at our hospital, 3 days after he had been stung by the wasps, he was unconscious. He was suffering from acute renal failure, hepatic, respiratory, and circulatory failures, and intravascular hemolysis. In addition to conventional therapy, plasma exchange was applied twice and followed by continuous venovenous hemofiltration. In the end, this elderly patient made a complete recovery, with his renal function returning to normal.

Keywords

• continuous veno-venous hemofiltration
• multiple organ failure
• plasma exchange
• wasp stings