Man stung on the eyeball by bee and races to hospital where specialists pull stinger out

A man from Philadelphia found himself hospital-bound following a wicked bee sting right in his eye. The 55-year-old dashed to emergency ward where medics tried removing the insect's barb from his right eye but couldn't completely succeed - leaving him with deteriorating sight and increased discomfort just two days after the initial ordeal.

When he finally presented himself at Wills Eye Hospital, his sight had nose-dived to such an extent that he could merely identify fingers with his right eye. Compounding matters, his eye ballooned and took on inflamed, bloody hues with clotted blood accumulating at the base of his iris.

Eye specialists spotted the problem resting at the junction between the white part of his eye and his cornea - it was a minuscule segment of the bee's stinger lodged into place. Citing a report from The New England Journal of Medicine, their clinical examination revealed: "Conjunctival injection, inferior corneal edema, and an infiltrate at the nasal limb us with a piece of retained stinger."

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"A hyphema, which was attributed to iris trauma from the buried stinger and bleeding iris vessels, was also observed. Jeweler's forceps were used to remove the stinger remnant. Occular bee stings warrant referral to an ophthalmologist owing to the severe inflammation that may result from the injury, as well as the possibility of a retained stinger in the eye. Topical antibacterial and prednisolone eye drops were prescribed. At 5 months of follow-up, the visual acuity in the right eye had improved to 20/25.", reports the Mirror US.

Ophthalmology experts suggest visiting an eye doctor specifically if you are stung by a bee in the eye. Expert Talia Shoshany told Ars Technica: "I am not surprised that the ER missed a small fragment. They pulled out the majority of the stinger, but the small fragment was only able to be visualized at a slit lamp."

In this case, ophthalmologists were able to see the stinger at a 10X or 16X magnification and had the additional help of a fluorescent dye. The stinger then had to "be pulled out with ophthalmic-specific micro-forceps".

The man was sent home with antibacterial cream and eye drops to calm the swelling. Five months on, his right eye's sight bettered to 20/25.

Shoshany remarked that "ocular bee stings are very rare" and this was her debut encounter. She explained the chap worked at a place with a beehive but wasn't a beekeeper.

The specialist mentioned he was just passing by when a bunch of bees buzzed up to him and one jabbed him in the peeper, though it's a mystery what set them off.