Prepare To Be Eaten Alive!!!!
Maggots can act as micro-surgeons, Australian study shows
Agence France-Presse
May 13, 2005
Dateline: SYDNEY
The ancient medical practice of using
maggots to clean difficult wounds should be revived, according to an
Australian study released Friday.
The study by Dr Alvin Cham shows that purpose-bred, sterile
maggots can act as "micro-surgeons" by eating only the dead tissue
around slow-healing wounds, the Royal Australasian College of
Surgeons said.
Its statement quoted Cham as saying maggots may be especially
useful for patients with diabetes or vascular disease because of
difficulty in wound-healing and the added dangers posed by frequent
surgery, as well as for those who have developed resistance to
antibiotics.
Cham's study showed that of nine patients given larval therapy
at the Royal Hobart Hospital, the maggots effectively cleaned all
slow-healing wounds upon which they were placed -- providing an
additional option to surgical debridement.
"Maggots can do a better job of cleaning a wound because a
surgeon can only rely on what their eye can see when cutting away
dead tissue,"Cham said in the statement.
"These larvae only clean and eat what is dead and can act like a
form of micro-surgery."
He said maggot therapy was especially useful in patients
suffering heart or lung disease, where ongoing surgery can present
extra risks. They could even halt gangrene which was very important
in terms of treating diabetics.
Cham said patients in the study were not horrified at the
treatment.
"The patients seem to feel better about it than the people who
are applying the therapy because they don't see it and feel only an
occasional wriggling sensation," he said.
A British study last year also found that sterile maggots can
heal wounds faster than conventional medicine. Local British doctors
have been authorised to offer patients a prescription of maggots. sm/mtp
Copyright (c) Agence France-Presse
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Agence France-Presse
May 13, 2005
Dateline: SYDNEY
The ancient medical practice of using
maggots to clean difficult wounds should be revived, according to an
Australian study released Friday.
The study by Dr Alvin Cham shows that purpose-bred, sterile
maggots can act as "micro-surgeons" by eating only the dead tissue
around slow-healing wounds, the Royal Australasian College of
Surgeons said.
Its statement quoted Cham as saying maggots may be especially
useful for patients with diabetes or vascular disease because of
difficulty in wound-healing and the added dangers posed by frequent
surgery, as well as for those who have developed resistance to
antibiotics.
Cham's study showed that of nine patients given larval therapy
at the Royal Hobart Hospital, the maggots effectively cleaned all
slow-healing wounds upon which they were placed -- providing an
additional option to surgical debridement.
"Maggots can do a better job of cleaning a wound because a
surgeon can only rely on what their eye can see when cutting away
dead tissue,"Cham said in the statement.
"These larvae only clean and eat what is dead and can act like a
form of micro-surgery."
He said maggot therapy was especially useful in patients
suffering heart or lung disease, where ongoing surgery can present
extra risks. They could even halt gangrene which was very important
in terms of treating diabetics.
Cham said patients in the study were not horrified at the
treatment.
"The patients seem to feel better about it than the people who
are applying the therapy because they don't see it and feel only an
occasional wriggling sensation," he said.
A British study last year also found that sterile maggots can
heal wounds faster than conventional medicine. Local British doctors
have been authorised to offer patients a prescription of maggots. sm/mtp
Copyright (c) Agence France-Presse
OpenURL Article
Bookmark:http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com::&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=&svc_dat=:&req_dat=0DCF15419C093715