Maggots in the operating room? You bet!

It may sound vile, but maggots, or fly larvae, are increasing in popularity as a medical tool. Maggots can be used for wound healing, as well as a treatment for antibiotic-resistant bacteria. These are not just your average maggots, though. They are medical maggots, raised specifically for use by doctors in sterile environments. The most commonly used species of fly is Phaenicia sericata, also known as the Green Blow Fly.

It comes as no surprise that maggots have made a comeback in the medical community. Historically, the efficacy of maggot therapy has been reported by Aboriginal tribes in Australia, as well as Maya Indians. During Renaissance times, the use of maggots was well recorded as being used by physicians to treat wounds. Wartime has shown the accidental discovery of maggots keeping wounds free of bacteria, preventing death and disease from secondary infection. Dr. William S. Baer recognized the effectiveness of maggots at preventing secondary disease during World War I, when he saw soldiers fallen in the battlefield, their wounds protected by the fly larvae.

Today, the use of maggots in medicine has been explained more thoroughly. The process of removing the dead tissue from a wound, known in the medical community as debridement, is essential to the healing process. Since fly larvae live off of dead tissue, their use has been very effective in treating non-healing or slow-healing wounds, particularly the wounds of diabetic patients. Other surgical methods of removing dead tissue are often used, but the maggots are able to do this with great speed and efficiency. As of now, they’re not used in all wound care procedures. But when conventional methods of debridement fail, the creepy crawlers may be brought in to finish the job. Maggots living off of dead tissue also have an anti-microbial effect, as the fly larvae kill invading bacteria.

It may sound gross, but the use of maggots certainly has its place in modern medicine. Diabetic wound care is a growing field in medicine, especially in podiatry, and the use of maggots shows great potential in treating this group of patients. Patients with diabetes often have complications that lead to large and infected wounds on the feet and legs. With the use of medical maggots, these patients may be able to heal faster and more completely.

Central Florida Foot & Ankle Center, LLC
101 6th Street N.W.
Winter Haven, FL 33881
Phone: 863-299-4551
http://www.FLFootandAnkle.com