Hirudotherapy, or leech therapy, is the medical use of leeches, most often the European medicinal leech Hirudo medicinalis, applied to the skin so that compounds in their saliva, including the anticoagulant hirudin, vasodilators and anesthetic substances, produce a therapeutic effect. The practice dates back at least 3,500 years to ancient Egypt, and medieval physicians used leeches extensively to draw blood in keeping with Galenic humoral theory, treating conditions from inflammation to laryngitis; by 1831 Manchester Royal Infirmary alone was consuming 50,000 leeches a year, representing 4.4 percent of the hospital's total expenditure by 1832. Leech therapy made an international comeback in microsurgery in the 1970s, today used chiefly to relieve venous congestion after finger reattachment and reconstructive surgery of the face, as well as in treating varicose veins and osteoarthritis, and the United States Food and Drug Administration classified the medicinal leech as a medical device in 2004.
Facts
Disputed
Origin YearSource states first recorded use was 3,500 years ago in Ancient Egypt; taken as approximately 1500 BCE, not an exact year. Classification
StatusDiscontinued or Obsolete 1 Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationHirudotherapy article, Historically section
The first recorded use of leech therapy was 3,500 years ago in Ancient Egypt.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirudo_medicinalis, lead section
Hirudo medicinalis, or the European medicinal leech, is one of several species of leeches used as medicinal leeches.
View the Source Essays About This Entity (1 essay)
Bloodletting Was Killed By a Number, Not a New Theory
Hirudotherapy, bloodletting closest surviving relative named in this essay
Read the EssayFrequently Asked Questions
What is medicinal leech therapy used for today?
Mainly to restore circulation in tissues threatened by venous congestion after microsurgery, such as reattached fingers.
Medicinal leech therapy, also referred to as hirudotherapy or hirudin therapy, made an international comeback in the 1970s in microsurgery, used to stimulate circulation in tissues threatened by postoperative venous congestion, particularly in finger reattachment and reconstructive surgery of the ear, nose, lip, and eyelid. Other clinical applications include varicose veins, muscle cramps, thrombophlebitis, and osteoarthritis, among many varied conditions.
How do medicinal leeches help, and what are the complications?
Steady bleeding after detachment and the secreted saliva restore flow; prolonged bleeding is the most common complication.
The therapeutic effect is not from the small amount of blood taken in the meal, but from the continued and steady bleeding from the wound left after the leech has detached, as well as the anesthetizing, anti-inflammatory, and vasodilating properties of the secreted leech saliva. The most common complication from leech treatment is prolonged bleeding, which can easily be treated, but more serious allergic reactions and bacterial infections may also occur. Leech therapy was classified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a medical device in 2004.
How long have leeches been used in medicine?
First recorded about 3,500 years ago in Ancient Egypt, and widely used in European medicine into the 19th century.
The first recorded use of leech therapy was 3,500 years ago in Ancient Egypt. The next recorded uses of leeches in medicine come in the last few centuries BCE, by the Greek physician Nicander in Colophon and at about the same period in the ancient Sanskrit text Sushruta Samhita. In medieval and early modern European medicine, leeches were used to remove blood from a patient as part of a process to balance the humors. Manchester Royal Infirmary used 50,000 leeches a year in 1831.
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