Medicinal leeches are used to control venous congestion. Aeromonas in the leech gut are essential for digestion of blood. This case report describes a patient who had Aeromonas bacteremia develop after leeching. He had an injury to his hand that required replantation of his thumb. Following the surgery, leech therapy was started with ampicillin-sulbactam prophylaxis. Sepsis developed. Blood cultures were positive for Aeromonas that were resistant to ampicillin-sulbactam. The antibiotic was changed to ciprofloxacin on the basis of the sensitivity profile of the organisms. Cultures from the leech bathwater confirmed it as the source of the Aeromonas. Clinicians who use leech therapy must be aware that leeches can harbor Aeromonas species resistant to accepted prophylactic antibiotics and that sepsis may occur.
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1 September 2010
Cases of Note|
September 01 2010
Aeromonas Septicemia After Medicinal Leech Use Following Replantation of Severed Digits
Steven M. Levine, MD;
Steven M. Levine, MD
Steven M. Levine is a plastic surgery resident at the Institute for Reconstructive Plastic Surgery, Spiros G. Frangos is a surgeon in the Department of Surgery, and Jamie P. Levine is an assistant professor at the Institute for Reconstructive Plastic Surgery at New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York. Bruce Hanna is director of the clinical microbiology laboratory at Bellevue Hospital in the Department of Microbiology. Kari Colen is a plastic surgeon in private practice in New York City
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Spiros G. Frangos, MD;
Spiros G. Frangos, MD
Steven M. Levine is a plastic surgery resident at the Institute for Reconstructive Plastic Surgery, Spiros G. Frangos is a surgeon in the Department of Surgery, and Jamie P. Levine is an assistant professor at the Institute for Reconstructive Plastic Surgery at New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York. Bruce Hanna is director of the clinical microbiology laboratory at Bellevue Hospital in the Department of Microbiology. Kari Colen is a plastic surgeon in private practice in New York City
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Bruce Hanna, PhD;
Bruce Hanna, PhD
Steven M. Levine is a plastic surgery resident at the Institute for Reconstructive Plastic Surgery, Spiros G. Frangos is a surgeon in the Department of Surgery, and Jamie P. Levine is an assistant professor at the Institute for Reconstructive Plastic Surgery at New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York. Bruce Hanna is director of the clinical microbiology laboratory at Bellevue Hospital in the Department of Microbiology. Kari Colen is a plastic surgeon in private practice in New York City
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Kari Colen, MD;
Kari Colen, MD
Steven M. Levine is a plastic surgery resident at the Institute for Reconstructive Plastic Surgery, Spiros G. Frangos is a surgeon in the Department of Surgery, and Jamie P. Levine is an assistant professor at the Institute for Reconstructive Plastic Surgery at New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York. Bruce Hanna is director of the clinical microbiology laboratory at Bellevue Hospital in the Department of Microbiology. Kari Colen is a plastic surgeon in private practice in New York City
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Jamie P. Levine, MD
Steven M. Levine is a plastic surgery resident at the Institute for Reconstructive Plastic Surgery, Spiros G. Frangos is a surgeon in the Department of Surgery, and Jamie P. Levine is an assistant professor at the Institute for Reconstructive Plastic Surgery at New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York. Bruce Hanna is director of the clinical microbiology laboratory at Bellevue Hospital in the Department of Microbiology. Kari Colen is a plastic surgeon in private practice in New York City
Corresponding author: Jamie P. Levine, md, Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery, New York University Langone Medical Center, 560 First Ave, TH-169, New York, NY 10016 (e-mail: [email protected]).
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Am J Crit Care (2010) 19 (5): 471.
Citation
Steven M. Levine, Spiros G. Frangos, Bruce Hanna, Kari Colen, Jamie P. Levine; Aeromonas Septicemia After Medicinal Leech Use Following Replantation of Severed Digits. Am J Crit Care 1 September 2010; 19 (5): 471–470. doi: https://doi.org/10.4037/ajcc2009110
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