Maggots & Wound Cleaning

While the technique has been used for at least a century, recently doctors have been reexamining maggot therapy as an alternative method to remove dead tissue from wounds and ulcers. In this therapy, maggots from the common green-bottle fly are sterilized and used to consume the tissue before removal.

History

• Wound improvement due to maggot infestation has been noted as early as the 16th century, and was described by Baron Dominic Larrey, Napoleon’s battlefield surgeon, in 1829. This was not intentional infestation of the tissue, but rather observation of naturally infested wounds.

Speed of Cleaning

• A study by Soares et al. in the medical journal BMJ found that maggot therapy cleaned wounds a statistically-insignificant 2.42 days faster than comparative hydrogel therapy.

Speed of Healing

• No statistical difference in the speed of wound healing due to maggot therapy use has been observed, even though the wound is cleaned out faster.

Cost

• The Soares study found average costs to be 40 British pounds/day higher for maggot therapy over hydrogels, though this was found to be statistically insignificant as well.

Drug Resistance

• While use among normal patients may be no better than mainstream treatments, maggot treatment is a useful alternative to disinfect tissue that has become resistant to antibiotics.