Maggot Medicine

[Greenday]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...tmedicine.html

Maggots are now being used as a form of medicine to get rid of dead flesh. It's proving to be extremely effective too.

How many of you would actually use it?

[iradney]

I would! It's alot less traumatizing to the body than going into surgery to excise the dead flesh, as they end up cutting away healthy flesh too.
Plus, these maggots have been bred in a lab, and are therefore sterile. The breed of maggots used help cut down on infections as they eat bacteria and rotting flesh. Apparently also good for diabetic patients who have recurring foot infections....

[edible_hat]

Been going on for years (for centuries, in its original form). I'd have it if I needed it, as long as I was sure they were the right maggots.

I recall a medical sitcom where somebody threw away the maggots, then realised what he'd done and found some maggots in the trash. Put them on the patient and "the next day" (5 minutes later in real time) there was just a skeleton in the bed. Another episode of the same show had doctors smuggling Red Bull in urine sample jars and, naturally, somebody gets the two mixed up...

[crazylegs]

Maggots are great, if you use the right breed (and I'm sure they do) they will only eat the dead flesh, so you're left with a remarkably clean, sterile wound.

[Greenday]

I know it's been around for years, as the theory makes sense. I just happened to be watching tv and saw that they FDA approved now. They said though that the breed they picked ONLY eats dead flesh and completely ignores living tissue. This type also doesn't burrow which is good for obvious reasons.

[Mr Yuck]

We've been using medical maggots at our hospital for about 7-8 years if memory serves. They are grown in a sterile environment, (not exactly sure how).
They are placed on the wound with an escape proof dressing. Patients say they can feel them wiggling a bit, but that it's not bad.

It's funny, because we'll (the ER) get an e-mail from our wound care clinic once in a while on the weekends that asks us to sign for their maggots if they are expecting a weekend delivery.

[Soulstealer]

It's actually pretty sound medicine. They eat the dead parts making it easier for doctors to treat wounds. Mind you I'd like them to give me some liquor first, it may be sound medicine but it's still creepy to look at.