How is larval therapy used for wound healing?
Maggot therapy is a type of biotherapy involving the introduction of live, disinfected maggots (fly larvae) into non-healing skin and soft tissue wounds of a human or other animal for the purpose of cleaning out the necrotic (dead) tissue within a wound (debridement) and disinfection.
When should larval therapy be used?
Larval therapy can be used for any infection, but is currently used for problematic wounds that are often poorly responsive to conventional treatment. Increased awareness may facilitate its use in conjunction with established treatments, hopefully in the setting of prospective clinical trials.
Is larval therapy recommended?
Clinical studies have demonstrated maggot therapy to be safe and effective in patients both with and without diabetes and for many problematic wounds, including pressure ulcers, venous stasis leg ulcers, wound bed preparation prior to surgical closure, and a variety of other traumatic, infectious, and vascular wounds.
What is larval debridement?
Larval debridement therapy (LDT), also known as ‘maggot therapy’ or ‘biosurgery’, involves the use of larvae of the greenbottle fly, which are introduced to a wound to remove necrotic, sloughy and/or infected tissue.
How do you apply larval therapy?
Maggots that are applied directly onto the wound (‘Free range’) are poured onto your wound. A net dressing is secured over them and a piece of gauze moistened with sodium chloride (saline) and an absorbent dressing pad are applied over this. A different dressing is also applied to the surrounding skin to protect it.
What precautions should be taken before larval therapy?
Before application, pain levels should be considered and analgesia prescribed before the dressing change, as well as on a regular basis if required. The maggots need to be used within eight hours and stored at a temperature of 8–10 degrees.
What is Autolytic wound debridement?
Autolytic debridement is the lysis, or breakdown, of damaged tissue at a wound site by the body’s natural defence system by enzymes that digest specific components of body tissues or cells, e.g. proteins, fibrin and collagen (Ramundo 2007).
How do worms get in wounds?
Wound myiasis: occurs as a result of egg deposition on decaying flesh or pus-discharging wounds. If the maggots invade rather than staying on superficial layers of exposed tissue, subcutaneous nodules can result.
What is larvae used for?
Larval therapy can be used to treat many types of wound including leg ulcers, pressure ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers, surgical wounds and burns. It has also been proven to be effective on infected, necrotic and sloughy tissue (Thomas and Jones, 1999).
Does Manuka honey debride wounds?
Manuka honey is particularly useful in facilitating wound cleansing and autolytic debridement due to its high osmolarity, promoting a moist wound environment and creating an acidic environment conducive to healing (Montoya, 2013; Wahab, 2013).
What can I use for Autolytic debridement?
Autolytic Debridement This is achieved with the use of semi-occlusive or occlusive dressings such as transparent films, hydrogels and hydrocolloids. This method can be used on stage ll or lll wounds that are not heavily exudative.
How is larval therapy effective in the treatment of wounds?
Effectiveness of larval therapy in treatment of wounds. As well as removing necrotic tissue, the larvae also helped combat odour by ingesting and killing bacteria in the wounds. They also reported a reduction in wound pain in many patients (additional 100 patients in addition to the dozen of the quoted study).
How long does it take for larval therapy to work?
Generally speaking, it is impossible to predict how long a course of treatment will take. Sometimes a wound is completely cleansed by a single application of larvae but other wounds may require two or more treatments to achieve the desired effect. Will I notice anything different during larval therapy?
Is it OK to bathe in larval therapy?
Although it is possible for the patient to carry out most normal activities whilst undergoing larval therapy, they should ideally not bathe or immerse the wound in water. It is also not a good idea to sit with the wound too close to a source of heat e.g. fire or radiator, as the larvae may dry out.
What does biomonde larval debridement therapy do?
A precise, natural, sustainable treatment that aids wound bed preparation towards wound healing.” BioMondeis a Multinational wound care company specialising in the manufacture and distribution of larval debridement therapy (also known as maggot therapy) products for use in chronic and hard to heal wounds.