Prolonged venous bleeding due to traditional treatment with leech bite: a case report

The medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis, has been used in the treatment of many diseases for thousands of years. In Turkey, it is used most commonly in the management of venous diseases of lower extremities. A 25-year-old Turkish woman presented to our emergency room with bleeding from her left leg. She had been treated for varicose veins in her lower extremities with leeches about 24 hours before admission to the emergency room. The bleeding was controlled by applying pressure with sterile gauze upon the wound, and she was discharged. She returned after four hours having started bleeding again. Hemostasis was achieved by vein ligation under local anesthesia. Leech bite should be evaluated as a special injury. Prolonged bleeding can be seen after leech bites. In such cases, hemostasis either with local pressure or ligation of the bleeding vessel is mandatory.