A case of living leech in nasal cavity

Abstract

This paper presents a case of a patient with a 3-month history of recurrent right-sided epistaxis with heavy bleeding for 4-days. Leech infestation in the nasal cavity was found to be the main cause of the epistaxis via endoscopic examination. Epistaxis caused by leech infestation although rare, can cause serious problems. When the clinicians meet the patients with unexplained intermittent epistaxis, leech infections must be taken into consideration. In this case, a 5-cm in length dark brown leech was removed with ethmoid forceps under local anesthesia by nasal endoscopy.

Keywords

• Leech infestation
• Epistaxis
• Nasal cavity