What Is Maggot Therapy?
Maggot therapy is a technique that removes necrotic, sloughy, or diseased tissue from wounds by using green-bottle fly maggots. It is also possible to use maggots to keep a wound clean after debridement, especially if it is prone to re-sloughing. The main methods by which maggot debridement therapy (MDT) promotes wound healing are debridement, disinfection, and growth promotion. It efficiently gets rid of necrotic tissue, cleans the wound bed, and promotes the formation of new, healthy tissue. Non-healing wounds include pressure ulcers (damage to the skin and tissue underneath brought on by continuous skin pressure), venous stasis ulcers (wound on the ankle or leg brought on by damaged or abnormal veins), neuropathic foot ulcers (occurs in the foot due to nerve damage), and wounds from trauma or surgery are especially well-suited for this therapy. MDT appears to be a useful intervention for healthcare workers managing difficult wounds, especially in light of the increasing incidence of chronic diabetic foot wounds.
What Is the Origin of Maggots Used for Medical Purposes?
Fly larvae that have been specially developed and maintained in a laboratory under sterile circumstances are known as medical-grade maggots. Certain maggots may cause damage to healthy tissue; hence, not all of them can be used medicinally. Sterilized eggs are used to breed these maggots, which are closely watched to make sure they consume only dead tissue and aid in wound cleaning.
Regular maggots can be dangerous to use because they can consume healthy tissue and contain dangerous bacteria. Medical-grade maggots are crucial because they are safe and efficient for medicinal applications.
These medical-grade maggots are produced by companies all over the world. The United Kingdom is home to one such company. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in the United States has authorized medical maggots to be used as a medical device.
To put it simply, surgeons utilize medical-grade maggots, which are carefully produced and monitored to clean wounds by eliminating dead tissue and encouraging healing without endangering vital tissue.
How Do Maggots Promote the Healing of Wounds?
Human myiasis, or the infestation of maggots, can be advantageous or detrimental based on a number of variables. Beneficial myiasis is known as maggot debridement therapy (MDT) in medical applications. Due to the extraordinary wound-healing characteristics of maggots, which are enhanced by three major actions, this therapy uses them to treat wounds.
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Wound Debridement: Maggots effectively clean wounds by dissolving damaged and rotting tissue. They do not eat healthy tissue; they only eat diseased and dead tissue.
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Wound Disinfection: Maggots release substances that either inhibit or eliminate bacteria that cause infections, keeping the region around the wound clean.
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Speeding up the Healing Process: Maggots accelerate the healing process by promoting the creation of new tissue after consuming the contaminated and dead tissue.
During treatment, the affected area is typically wrapped in gauze and a wound dressing containing maggots. After two or three days, the bandage is removed, and the engorged maggots, which are now much bigger than they were initially, are washed out of the wound. This process promotes wound healing by facilitating the effective removal of necrotic tissue.
How Are Maggots Used to Treat Wounds?
At first, the maggots used to cure wounds are much smaller, just a few millimeters (mm) long. They can, however, enlarge to a maximum size of 0.47 inches as they heal the wound. Applying these maggots can be done in two major ways:
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BioBag Dressing: To aid in the growth and management of any fluid from the wound, maggots are encased in a small piece of foam and a finely woven net pouch. The size and kind of the wound determine which of these dressings should be applied. They are available in various sizes. Throughout the treatment, the maggots remain contained within the dressing.
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Free Range Maggots: A specific dressing method is applied after the maggots are directly applied to the wound. The size and location of the wound being treated determine the particular type of dressing that is employed.
What Is the Duration of Maggot Debridement Therapy?
The length of time can vary across various wound care therapies that use maggots. With BioBag dressings, doctors can check the wound every day, and the dressings can stay in place for up to four days. When "free range" maggots are applied directly to the wound, they are typically left there for three days before being removed. The precise length of treatment, however, is unknown because it varies per patient. A single application may be sufficient to completely clean some wounds, but multiple therapies may be necessary to get the desired result in others.
What Are the Precautions Taken During MDT?
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Patients already experiencing pain related to wounds may find maggot debridement therapy (MDT) to be uncomfortable or painful. As the larvae get bigger, this discomfort usually gets severe and usually appears 24 to 36 hours into the therapy. This discomfort is frequently relieved by giving them painkillers. Removing the maggot dressing can frequently result in instant relief if discomfort continues.
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Ensuring that the maggots stay confined within the incision throughout the therapy process is imperative. Their secretions may result in a rash that resembles a superficial burn if they get onto the skin that is not protected around the wound.
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Only wounds that are open to the environment should be treated with MDT. The maggots should be washed out from the wound and discarded as biohazardous waste when they have served their purpose. It is never appropriate to let wounds heal over maggots as it can cause other complications.
Conclusion
When normal therapies do not work for a challenging wound, a technique called maggot debridement therapy is used to treat it with maggots. Infections that are difficult to eradicate benefit most from its use. The therapy uses maggots to help remove infection and odors from the wound rapidly, and it may even be able to avoid amputation. There may also be a decrease in the requirement for antibiotics, hospital stays, and medical visits. This age-old cure is once again becoming crucial to maintaining public health due to the growth of illnesses resistant to antibiotics. However, much more research work is needed before it can be implemented at all levels.
