Maggot therapy for treating diabetic foot ulcers unresponsive to conventional therapy??

[Papan]

Hi, my father is 65 years old and he has a history of diabetes for last 15 years. He has foot ulcers also which is not being cured after several application of standard dressings. We have tried advanced therapy like cell based product. Though the ulcers were healed but there was recurrence once the application was stopped. These products are expensive. Still we have not got good results. I heard that maggot therapy is good for treating diabetic foot ulcer. I would like to know will that really help?

[Bubun]

@Papan The current enthusiasm for maggot debridement has been fueled more by anecdotal reports and personal experience than by scientific studies. It is thought that maggots are able to debride diabetic wounds and stimulate wound healing. Maggots can remove necrotic tissue, stimulate granulation tissue formation and kill bacteria. In diabetic foot ulcers with the problem of bacterial resistance, this therapy has been used as an alternative treatment of these ulcers. They are approved for debridement of wounds with necrotic tissue, including pressure ulcers, venous ulcers, neuropathic foot ulcers, and non-healing traumatic or postsurgical wounds. One study reports the efficacy of maggot therapy in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcer infected with multidrug resistant microorganisms. A 74 year old female patient with diabetes for over 30 years, was treated with maggot therapy using larvae of Chrysomya megacephala. The microbiological samples were collected to evaluate aetiology of the infection. The therapy done for 43 days resulted in a reduction of necrosis and the ulcer's retraction of 0.7 cm2 in area.