Maggot Therapy

Maggot therapy, also called maggot debridement therapy or larval therapy, is a type of biotherapy involving the introduction of live, disinfected fly larvae into non-healing skin and soft-tissue wounds to remove dead tissue and disinfect the wound, a process called extracorporeal digestion in which the maggots secrete enzymes that liquefy necrotic tissue before absorbing it. The practice dates to antiquity, with documented use among the Maya, Native Americans and Aboriginal Australians, and military physicians noted that soldiers whose wounds became colonized by maggots often had better outcomes; Confederate doctors in the American Civil War formally documented its effectiveness, and orthopedic surgeon William S. Baer pioneered its modern medical application at Boston Children Hospital during and after the First World War.