Maggot Therapy Research Paper

The of use maggots to aid wound healing – known as maggot therapy (MT) or maggot debridement therapy (MDT) is a type of biotherapy that has been reported since ancient times. The Old Testament cites the infestation of a wound with fly larvae – “My body is covered with worms and scabs, My skin is broken and festering.” (Old Testament, Job 7:5, NIV Version, 1984). The benefits of this biotherapy have been recognised for centuries; Grossman states “since ancient times, fly larvae have been deliberately introduced into wounds to promote healing” (Grossman J. Flies as medical allies. The world & I. October 1994;187-193) and goes on to state that this method was practiced by aborigines in Australia, Hill people in Burma, and Mayan Indian healers

This was evidently problematic, and so American surgeon William S. Baer realised the importance of his observation when he cleared out wounds infested with maggots to find “these wounds were filled with the most beautiful pink granulation tissue as one could imagine” and that the patients “went on to healing”. Baer refers to the maggots as “their friends, which had been doing such noble work” (maggot therapy book), encompassing the changing attitudes towards maggot therapy as its benefits are realised. Baer then progressed into a professor of orthopaedic surgery at the John Hopkins University after the war, and here he began to apply maggots to nonhealing wounds as treatment. It was during this time that the predecessor of what is today known as a ‘biobag’ was born – a biobag is sealed polyester bag that contains the maggots, so they can work on the wound without coming into direct contact with the skin. Baer developed cage-like dressings for the maggots to be contained in, to avoid disturbing the staff and patients with the sight of maggots, and to prevent them from