Retained eyelid bee stinger: A case of secondary corneal abrasion

Bee sting injuries to the eye and surrounding tissue are an infrequent occurrence. Here we present an interesting Case of a 64 year old bee keeper who was stung in the left upper eyelid.

After the injury, she developed pain and inflammation of the eyelid though a few days after the injury noted increased eye pain. On initial ophthalmic assessment, no retained foreign body was noted. Six days after the incident, her lid edema had improved and a retained foreign body - the bee stinger - had been found on eversion of the eyelid. We propose that as the inflammation resolved, the stinger extruded from the inner eyelid tissue, causing a corneal abrasion, which was the source of her acute increase in pain.

In cases of bee injuries, it is paramount to consider the possibility of retained foreign bodies and to perform a thorough ophthalmic examination and assessment.