Maggot Therapy for Non-Healing Wounds

Maggot Therapy for Non-Healing Wounds
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Maggots for Non-Healing Wounds

Maggot Therapy (image in the public domain)

Maggots have been used for centuries to treat wounds. Many wounded soldiers, left on the battlefield for days, were able to survive because of maggots. Doctors were amazed to see how clean their wounds were and how many soldiers did not suffer from a fever.

Maggot therapy may not sound pleasant but it has saved many limbs from being amputated because of non-healing wounds. Using maggots, the larval stage of flies, to treat foot ulcers, venous stasis ulcers, pressure ulcers, and post surgical and traumatic wounds was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2004.

Placing live maggots over a wound, using a sealed pouch or a cage-like dressing, can do the following:

  • debride the wound (remove unhealthy tissue)
  • kill bacteria
  • stimulate wound healing.

Wound Debridement

Wound debridement, done surgically, requires an anesthetic to remove injured or infected tissue from non-healing wounds. The healing process can be long (more than one procedure may be needed) and may even fail. While removing unhealthy tissue, healthy tissue is also removed causing the wound to be larger, more painful, and more at risk for an infection.

Maggots can debride non-healing wounds in one to two days and they do not damage healthy tissue. Maggots secrete a digestive enzyme into the wound that liquefies or dissolves dead tissue. The liquefied tissue is eaten by the maggots or it drains out of the wound.

Bacteria

Maggots prevent and treat infections. Maggot secretions possess potent antimicrobial activity and can kill a wide range of bacteria, including those that are resistant to antibiotics. If the secretions don’t kill the bacteria, the maggots will eat and destroy it.

Wound Healing

Maggot therapy promotes wound healing. Maggot secretions can stimulate tissue growth in non-healing wounds and has a soothing effect on the skin. It is also believed that maggot movement stimulates the formation of tissue.

Disclaimer

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