RESEARCH - Maggots as good as gel in leg ulcer treatment

[Guest guest]

Maggots as Good as Gel in Leg Ulcer Treatments

But while larval therapy works well, study says there's no rush to

abandon standard care

US News & World Report

Posted March 20, 2009

FRIDAY, March 20 (HealthDay News) -- The use of maggots to treat leg

ulcers is similar to standard hydrogel therapy in terms of health

benefits and costs, according to British researchers.

Debridement (removal of dead tissue from the ulcer surface) helps

promote healing and is a common part of treatment for leg ulcers,

chronic wounds most often caused by diseased veins. While a hydrogel

is commonly used for debridement, it's been suggested the maggots

(larval therapy) debride wounds more quickly, stimulate healing and

reduce infection.

In the first randomized controlled trial of larval therapy,

researchers studied 267 patients with at least one leg ulcer with dead

tissue. The patients were randomly selected to receive either loose

larvae, bagged larvae or hydrogel and were monitored for up to one

year.

Compared to hydrogel, larval therapy significantly reduced the time to

debridement, but there was little difference in time to ulcer healing,

health-related quality of life or levels of bacteria.

While larval therapy is more effective at debriding than hydrogel,

there's no evidence that larval therapy should be recommended for

routine use on leg ulcers with dead tissue with the goal of speeding

healing or reducing levels of bacteria, the researchers said.

In a separate analysis, the researchers concluded that larval therapy

and hydrogel have similar cost-effectiveness.

The findings were published online March 20 in BMJ.

http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/03/20/maggots-as-good-as\

-gel-in-leg-ulcer-treatments.html

Not an MD

[Guest guest]

Years ago, when my grandfather had a leg wound that wouldn't heal, the

doctors used maggots on him. Unfortunately, he died anyway. Although

he was never diagnosed with diabetes, I'm sure that he had it and

passed it down to me. Of course he passed many good things down to me.

He didn't pass the RA to me; my grandmother did.

Sue

On Mar 20, 2009, at 10:03 AM, wrote:

> Maggots as Good as Gel in Leg Ulcer Treatments

>

>

> But while larval therapy works well, study says there's no rush to

> abandon standard care

>