Allergy Asthma Respir Dis.  2015 Mar;3(2):151-154. 10.4168/aard.2015.3.2.151.

Acute lung injury after bee sting acupuncture

• Chae WY
• Kim SH
• Lee YH
• Lee BH
• Lee JH
• Woo JJ

• KMID: 2168509
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4168/aard.2015.3.2.151

Abstract

Bee stings can cause severe adverse reactions. There have been no cases of acute lung injury induced by bee sting acupuncture. We report a case of a 52-year-old male who required high flow oxygen therapy because of acute lung injury by bee sting acupuncture. The patient had been treated with live bee sting acupuncture by himself for knee pain. After self-injections of live bee sting, he immediately presented with generalized urticaria that remitted within 3 hours after taking an oral antihistamine. Ten days later, he visited our emergency department due to dyspnea and dizziness. He was diagnosed with acute lung injury by bee sting acupuncture based upon a history of symptom onset after exposure to the allergen and clinical test results. This case emphasizes that practitioners should consider potential risks of delayed-onset adverse reactions induced by bee sting acupuncture.

Keyword

Bee venoms; Acupuncture; Acute lung injury; Adverse effects

MeSH Terms

Acupuncture*
Acute Lung Injury*
Bee Venoms
Bees*
Bites and Stings*
Dizziness
Dyspnea
Emergency Service, Hospital
Humans
Knee
Male
Middle Aged
Oxygen
Urticaria
Bee Venoms
Oxygen

Figure

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  Fig. 1 (A) Initial chest radiograph shows bilateral ground glass opacities in both upper lung fields. (B) Six days later, the bilateral ground glass opacities have worsened involving whole lung fields.

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  Fig. 2 (A) Coronal reformatted computed tomography image obtained five days after the initial chest radiograph. Diffuse ground glass opacities with intralobular interstitial thickening and consolidation containing dilated bronchi in both lower lung fields are observed. Peripheral cystic change is also seen. There is no pleural effusion. (B) Three weeks later, bilateral diffuse ground-glass and coarse reticular opacities in both lung fields is improved.

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