» Articles » PMID: 10591775

[Biosurgery - Maggots, Are They Really the Better Surgeons?]

Overview
Journal Chirurg
Specialty General Surgery
Date 1999 Dec 11
PMID 10591775
Citations 10
Authors
Affiliations
Soon will be listed here.
Abstract

Between 1 October 1996 and 31 December 1998 123 patients (74 men, 43 women) suffering from acute (n = 17) and chronic (n = 21) infections and chronic wounds (n = 85) were treated with sterile maggots (Lucilia sericata). In most patients the indication for the use of maggots was a failure to respond to standard therapy. Healing occurred in all patients with acute infections, and chronic infections showed excellent short-term results. In chronic wounds disturbances of healing in diabetics responded best to maggot therapy, the etiologically inhomogeneous group of leg ulcers asked for a polypragmatic approach, and the worst results were seen in chronic arterial occlusive disease (stage 4). Our limited experience with "biosurgery", biased selection of patients, and lack of late results reduce the significance of our data; nevertheless, sterile maggots seem to be an astonishingly workable tool for solving problems in surgical wound treatment.

Citing Articles

Expanding access to maggot containment dressings through redesign and innovation.

Sherman R, Stadler F Int Wound J. 2025; 22(1):e70100.

PMID: 39800339 PMC: 11725371. DOI: 10.1111/iwj.70100.


larval therapy in the treatment of diabetic chronic wounds.

Jafari A, Hosseini S, Hemmat H, Khazraei H J Diabetes Metab Disord. 2022; 21(1):305-312.

PMID: 35673427 PMC: 9167379. DOI: 10.1007/s40200-022-00973-w.


Sterilization of blow fly eggs, Chrysomya megacephala and Lucilia cuprina, (Diptera: Calliphoridae) for maggot debridement therapy application.

Limsopatham K, Khamnoi P, Sukontason K, Boonyawan D, Chaiwong T, Sukontason K Parasitol Res. 2017; 116(5):1581-1589.

PMID: 28361272 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-017-5435-9.


Helminthes and insects: maladies or therapies.

El-Tantawy N Parasitol Res. 2014; 114(2):359-77.

PMID: 25547076 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-014-4260-7.


Evaluation of the tissue toxicity of antiseptics by the hen's egg test on the chorioallantoic membrane (HETCAM).

Marquardt C, Matuschek E, Bolke E, Gerber P, Peiper M, V Seydlitz-Kurzbach J Eur J Med Res. 2010; 15(5):204-9.

PMID: 20562059 PMC: 3352009. DOI: 10.1186/2047-783x-15-5-204.