Maggot Therapy for Treating Wounds

What exactly is maggot therapy? Sometimes called maggot debridement therapy or larval therapy, the practice involves applying medicinal maggots—often belonging to the blow fly species, Lucilia sericata—to wounds to promote healing. The larvae are bred and disinfected in a laboratory facility specifically for clinical use.

Maggot therapy is primarily used for hard-to-heal or chronic wounds, such as pressure ulcers, diabetic foot wounds, trauma wounds and others, when conventional therapeutic tactics fail or are unable to be performed for various reasons. It can also be used alongside standard treatment regimens to facilitate healing. During therapy, maggots are often confined in a dressing of some kind, and that dressing is placed on the wound for several days.

On this Microbial Minutes we explain how maggots help heal wounds and fight infection.

Sources:

A complete guide to maggot therapy: https://www.openbookpublishers.com/bo...
https://www.dovepress.com/maggot-debr...

Seraticin study: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...

MAMP study: https://www.spandidos-publications.co...

LA-sarctoxin and LA-somoxyn study: https://academic.oup.com/jac/article/...

Biofilm study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

Anti-viral study: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.201...

Anti-fungal study: https://doi.org/10.1111/wrr.12287

Clinical trial: https://www.dovepress.com/effects-of-...

Case study: https://doi.org/10.1097/won.000000000...

Health professional perceptions: https://doi.org/10.12968/jowc.2021.30...

Nursing staff perceptions: https://doi.org/10.12968/jowc.2022.31...

Public perceptions: https://doi.org/10.12968/jowc.2022.31...

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