Maggot Therapy and Leech Therapy
It is not uncommon for us to see a homeless patient come in with a leg infection that is covered in maggots. After we brush away the “bugs” (maggots are actually flies at a larval stage), the wounds are surprisingly clean.
Yes, maggots eat away dead tissue and leave only the healthy stuff behind. This is not a very appetizing solution, but it works, and doctors have indeed used these little creatures as a therapy for cleaning stubborn wounds. Sterile maggots of the green bottle fly, Lucilia sericata, are used for this procedure, which is called “maggot debridement therapy.” The maggots (about five to ten) are placed on each square centimeter of a wound. The wound is then covered with a breathable protective dressing and the maggots are left for about two to three days to do their work. Not only do the maggots eat the infected tissue, it is believed that they secrete substances that kill bacteria and promote wound healing.
Now for the leeches…
Medical leeches are making a comeback, but it is not for those good old bloodlettings. The use of leeches in medicine dates back to antiquity. The first use of medical leech was about 1000 B.C., probably in ancient India. They reached their peak of popularity in the nineteenth century. Leeches were used for a variety of ailments, the idea being that blood carried evil humors and that thinning the blood would lead to good health. Leeching fell from favor, but today the little bloodsuckers are used by plastic surgeons throughout the world as tools in skin grafts and reattachment surgery.
If you want to read an intriguing tale about medical leeches, get a copy of The New Yorker from July 25, 2005, and enjoy John Colapinto’s article “Bloodsuckers.” You can learn that “Leeches are found in virtually every kind of habitat – including a species in the Sahara that resides in the noses of camels; one that resides in the anuses of hippopotamuses; a cave-dwelling leech in New Guinea that sucks on the blood of bats; and one that attacks the armpits of turtles.” The leech used for medical purposes does not come from a hippo anus, it is a European leech, Hirudo medicinalis, that is raised on leech farms.
Leeches do their work by removing blood from the site of skin grafts or reattached parts and reliving congestion in the blood vessels. The Hirudo leech also has a chemical in its saliva that acts as an anticoagulant to prevent blood clotting. The bite of a leech is painless due to its own anesthetic.
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"What is Maggot Therapy and Leech Therapy?" was posted on Tuesday, June 10th, 2008 at 5:01 am.