Leeches lived in nose for more than 3 months, diagnosed with sinusitis, took antibiotics for a long time

Before coming to the hospital, the patient was diagnosed with a runny nose due to sinusitis and was treated with antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, and topical sprays, but the condition did not improve.

Through examination at the ENT clinic - Department of Examination and Treatment on Demand, Hanoi Medical University Hospital, using short-wavelength flexible endoscopy, a mass was discovered in the nasal cavity which when changing color of light was a living object.

Had a runny nose for more than 3 months, diagnosed with sinusitis, took antibiotics, picture 1 — The disc entered the patient's nose, causing prolonged nosebleeds (photo source: Hanoi Medical University).

It was a 6cm long live leech moving in the patient's left nostril.

The doctor safely removed the foreign object from the patient's nose. After 1 week, the patient's nosebleeds and nasal pain were completely gone.

Doctors note that bright red nosebleeds accompanied by pain in one side of the nose, people living in mountainous areas or traveling in mountainous areas may have foreign objects in their nose.

Foreign bodies in the nose are a common disease in the ENT department. Removing and treating foreign bodies requires the skills of specialists. Foreign bodies in the nose can cause many dangerous complications if not treated early. The case of living foreign bodies (leeches) in the nose is quite rare and can be easily overlooked if not examined carefully.

Leeches are hermaphroditic parasites in freshwater, 2 - 12 cm long; leeches have suckers and suck the blood of animals to live, when sucking blood, leeches will secrete anticoagulants that make it difficult to stop bleeding; leeches have smooth and soft skin, removing living foreign objects such as leeches is not simple.

According to doctors, patients living in mountainous areas and frequently using spring water for daily activities create favorable conditions for foreign objects such as leeches to enter the body.

Patients who have had a leech (a living foreign object) enter their nose often have symptoms concentrated on one side of the nose where the leech lives. Patients have nasal congestion, runny nose, nosebleeds, and a tickling sensation in the nose, sometimes with nasal pain.

Over time, leeches sucking blood to survive can affect the patient's health, causing fatigue and anemia.

Leeches parasitizing the patient's nose can even move to the trachea and bronchi, causing coughing up blood, pain, and difficulty breathing.

In cases where ENT endoscopy does not detect a living foreign body that has moved, other paraclinical methods can be used to support the location of the foreign body and assess the extent of damage such as CT-Scan, MRI...

Foreign objects living in the nose cause initial symptoms that are easily confused with allergic rhinitis - sinusitis.

When there are signs of illness, patients should visit and receive treatment at reputable medical facilities. Self-medication or trying to use spontaneous tools to find and remove foreign objects can cause unpredictable dangerous complications.

Source