You are here

Article Text

Article menu
Images in...
Wood tick
Free
  1. David Utting,
  2. Nigel Harrison
  1. Department Emergency Medicine, Lewisham Hospital, London, UK
  1. david.utting{at}gmail.com

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr.2006.041814

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    A 46-year-old man presented to the emergency department having noticed in the shower that morning an itchy black spot with some surrounding erythema on his genitals. Further enquiry revealed he had been enjoying the summer heat in shorts while walking in Hutt Wood, Southampton, the day before. Examination revealed a 2 mm live tick burrowed in the dorsum of his penis (figs 1 and 2). The tick was removed with splinter forceps and the patient was prescribed chloramphenicol ointment for local use. The Microbiology Reference Laboratory identified the insect as a wood tick (Dermacentor variabilis). Vaseline and dressings are thought to be ineffective in removing the mandible; caustic applications can damage surrounding skin.

    Figure 1
    Figure 1 Live tick burrowed in the dorsum of the patient’s penis. Informed consent was obtained for publication of this figure.
    Figure 2
    Figure 2 Close up of tick. Informed consent was obtained for publication of this figure.

    Acknowledgments

    This article has been adapted from Utting David, Harrison Nigel. Wood tick Emergency Medicine Journal 2007;24:736

    Footnotes

    • Competing interests: None.

    • Informed consent was obtained for publication of figs 1 and 2.