Corneal bee sting injuries with different presentations and outcomes - experience in a tertiary hospital in Malaysia. Corneal Bee Sting Injuries

Main Article Content

Jie Jie Lim
May May Choo, Prof
Yee Chian Liew, Dr
U-Teng Chan, Dr

Abstract

Background: Bee sting ocular injuries are a relatively rare but significant source of ocular trauma. Bee sting ocular injuries can result from the bee stinger or its venom. The treatment depends on the mechanism and extent of the injuries.


Case Series: First patient had stinger removal almost immediately after the incident. However, his cornea eventually decompensated possibly due to venom toxicity. After cataract surgery and Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty, his visual acuity was 6/18.


Second patient was diagnosed with corneal perforation and toxic anterior segment syndrome in the left eye caused by bee stinger, which required tectonic penetrating keratoplasty. He later required cataract surgery which eventually resulted in secondary graft failure. 


Last patient had an intact embedded bee stinger paracentrally at 9 o’clock position in his right cornea. His lesion was initially treated as secondary bacterial corneal ulcer but his condition did not improve. After stinger removal and corneal suturing, he was treated with intensive topical antibiotics. His response to treatment and the periphery location of the lesion, led to good visual outcome. 


Conclusion: Corneal bee sting injuries can have different presentations and outcomes, whose management should be tailored individually in order to achieve good outcome. Proper protective eye wears should be advocated to motorcyclists to prevent such potential blinding condition.


Conflict of interest: The authors have no any conflict of interest.

Article Details

Section
Case Report

References

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