Wound care: maggot therapy

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In maggot therapy, fly larvae are placed on a wound that does not heal well. They are supposed to remove dead cells and thus promote wound healing. The therapy, however, is costly and does not always have the desired effect. Read here where the maggots come from and how maggot therapy works.

Wound treatment with maggots - is that hygienic?

Many patients shudder at the thought of having insect larvae on their bodies. Maggot infestation on a wound is considered dirty and associated with poor hygiene. The fly larvae used in maggot therapy, on the other hand, do not come from nature, but are bred in a sterile manner. They can therefore not transmit any diseases or pathogens.

Maggot therapy: how does it work?

After cleaning the wound, the doctor puts tape along the edges of the wound. These cannot overcome the maggots and therefore remain in the wound area instead of spreading over the whole body. For every square centimeter of the wound, the doctor places about ten larvae on the skin and covers them with a compress. Since many patients feel disgust at the sight of the maggots on their wound, the larvae are often covered with an air-permeable bag, the so-called biobag. Biobag or compress are then wrapped with a loose bandage so that they cannot slip. A dressing change and a wound assessment take place every three to four days.

Maggot therapy: how helpful is it?

The fly larvae are used to remove dead tissue, especially in diabetic foot syndrome or pressure ulcers. In medicine, maggot therapy is also known as biosurgical wound debridement.

The fly larvae feed on dead cells and remove them without damaging the healthy tissue. For a long time, great hopes were placed in maggot therapy. So far, however, it has not been possible to show that a chronic wound caused by larvae heals faster than with other methods of removing dead cells.

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