Maggots! Maggots Maggots!!! Ewww
ahhh ish....
But can you imagine that before advent of Life
saving antibiotics these maggots had saved many lives and limbs!
Yes ! Exactly!
Maggots were used for treatment of sloughing wounds
and deep seated infections.
Maggot therapy in olden days was a result of
observation by army surgeons that the maggot infested wounds heal faster
compared to non infested wounds.
William Baer was the first one to use Maggots in
treatment of wounds and also showed that maggots can help the wound to heal
faster.
This method became so popular that many hospitals developed their own
insectaries to stock their own insect free maggots for treatment.
Many doctors were happy with this bio-debridement.
The problems faced that time were Difficulty in
getting insect free maggots, Cost & Difficulty in constructing a dressing
to house these maggots around the wound.
Slowly maggots disappeared from the scene with
advent of “Life- Saving Antibiotics”
Now Maggots are ready to make a comeback!
Why?
Because the Bacteria are becoming more and more
resistant to antibiotics. Even before the drug reaches the stage of mass
production resistant strains emerge. It is not uncommon for any Doctor to see
reports carry these Dangerous terms – MRSA, ESBL, MBL, MDR strains, Pan – Drug
Resistant Strains.
Literally we are running out of antibiotics. The
small single celled invisible creatures are winning!
Maggot therapy is essentially a
controlled therapeutic maggot infestation on a live host). It is controlled by
selecting a safe strain and made germ free by using disinfectants. These
maggots are introduced in special dressings that prevent them from leaving the
wound.
Maggots are applied to the wound at a
dose of 5–10 larvae per square centimetre of wound surface area and are left
within their dressing for 48–72 h. The basic action comprises of Debridement, Disinfection,
Stimulation of healing and
Biofilm inhibition and eradication.
Medicinal maggots are like
microsurgeons and are precise in their debridement. It is no wonder that they
have found their way into the hearts and wounds of so many.
Despite our low cultural esteem for
maggots, more and more clinicians and patients are turning to medicinal maggots
for assistance with their wound healing. For most, the drawbacks of maggot
therapy pale in comparison to the remarkable efficacy in treating even the most
recalcitrant wounds.
Modern dressing materials have
simplified the maggot therapy procedure and minimized the risk of escape. The
establishment of laboratories throughout the world, along with access to
overnight courier service in many regions, has made medicinal maggots readily
available to millions of people.
Now it is the age of
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