Maggots: Antimicrobial Stewards and Life Savers
Maggots have been used in wound care for centuries. Their larvae secrete digestive enzymes and antimicrobial compounds that reduce the bacterial load within a wound and promote the growth of new, healthy tissue. We will discuss a series of patients with complex, nonhealing and life-threatening sacra...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American College of Physicians
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Annals of Internal Medicine: Clinical Cases |
| Online Access: | https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/aimcc.2023.0693 |
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| Summary: | Maggots have been used in wound care for centuries. Their larvae secrete digestive enzymes and antimicrobial compounds that reduce the bacterial load within a wound and promote the growth of new, healthy tissue. We will discuss a series of patients with complex, nonhealing and life-threatening sacral wounds who developed multidrug-resistant sacral osteomyelitis. These wounds had failed to respond to standard and advanced strategies. Medicinal maggots were offered as a last-ditch effort in each case. In addition to saving the patients’ lives, these maggots demonstrated their underappreciated and underused role as antimicrobial stewards. |
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| ISSN: | 2767-7664 |