Maggots...to heal a wound???

[Nick_Spanich]

I am one who likes bugs. But then again don't most science geeks. MY question is do they still use Maggot Debridement Therapy (MDT)? It is when then put disinfected maggots on and open wound to kill the dead skin and heal the wound.

 

Thanks,

 

Nick

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Yes, I believe it's still used.

[Fuzzwood]

Kill is a bad choice of wording as it is already dead. But in some cases it speeds up recovery as it takes work away from the healing process itself. Still used to treat nasty injuries

[Nick_Spanich]

Kill is a bad choice of wording as it is already dead. But in some cases it speeds up recovery as it takes work away from the healing process itself. Still used to treat nasty injuries

 

Yes, I understand it's I really didn't know how to word it.

[DrDNA]

If you are interested in maggots for wound healing, you might also be interested in an enzyme derived from silk worms, serrapeptidase, which is said to remove dead tissue, while leaving healthy tissue alone. It's very interesting.

I wonder if maggots have a similar enzyme.

[Nick_Spanich]

I don't think I would ut them on my wounds any time soon but I like bugs as I stated and I thought that this was intresting when I found it.

[Fuzzwood]

Well if i had the choice of placing bugs on a large festering wound or let the limb just rot off...

[foodchain]

I am one who likes bugs. But then again don't most science geeks. MY question is do they still use Maggot Debridement Therapy (MDT)? It is when then put disinfected maggots on and open wound to kill the dead skin and heal the wound.

 

Thanks,

 

Nick

 

Lol, I freaked out when I first watched that on t.v. They use cultured or clean populations of maggots over a wound. It speeds up the healing process, reduces infection and amount of scar tissue.

[Daecon]

How can the maggots tell if the tissue is dead without eating it first?

 

And how could you trust them not to go crawling up an artery and getting lost...?

[YT2095]

one question, what happens to the, how shall I say... Maggot Poo?

[DrP]

How can the maggots tell if the tissue is dead without eating it first?

 

And how could you trust them not to go crawling up an artery and getting lost...?

 

pretty certain they only eat the dead/infected stuff - must be the flavour.

 

I saw a documentry on this - if you leave them in the wound too long then they run out of dead stuff and infected meat to feed on and then they turn on each other - there have been cases of bandages being removed and people finding just one large maggot left over!.

 

I don't think maggot poo is an issue.

 

 

 

Hmm.. lovely topic - I'm just off to lunch.

[Nick_Spanich]

Well if i had the choice of placing bugs on a large festering wound or let the limb just rot off...

 

I would put them on it. Bugs are misunderstud. There seen as gross and you are to squash them. With out them this world would be unliveble.

[lucaspa]

How can the maggots tell if the tissue is dead without eating it first?

 

And how could you trust them not to go crawling up an artery and getting lost...?

 

1. You aren't going to have an open artery or vein large enough for them to crawl up. If you did, you would have bled to death long before. Any artery or vein that large, if it had been severed, would have been either clamped, sutured closed, or reattached by the surgeon before any maggots are turned loose in the wounds.

 

2. These are used only on chronic wounds, not acute ones. These are superficial at the skin. Thus there are no large arteries in the neighborhood for them to crawl up.

 

3. Maggots don't eat vascularized (with blood flow), living tissue.

 

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3977/is_200303/ai_n9216510

http://www.ucihs.uci.edu/som/pathology/sherman/home_pg.htm

[falcon9393]

i think you are thinking of leaches???

[Nick_Spanich]

i think you are thinking of leaches???

 

NO, Leeches suck is used to bring blood flowing through areas cut off. Here is a link that shows about it

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggot_therapy

[falcon9393]

NO, Leeches suck is used to bring blood flowing through areas cut off. Here is a link that shows about it

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggot_therapy

 

alright alright my bad sorry