How to heal the troublesome problem of diabetic ulcers, American researchers give a suggestion: let maggots take care of the problem! To allow these wounds to heal, doctors use a scalpel or enzymes to remove infected or necrotic tissue, a process known as debridement. But this approach doesn’t have a high success rate. ”Diabetic patients with these problems desperately need better treatments to preserve their limbs.” said Dr. Lawrence Eron of the University of Hawaii Kaiser Hospital in Honolulu. He and his colleagues presented their findings at a recent scientific meeting in Chicago. ”The maggot debridement treatment was surprisingly efficient, and after just one treatment, these wounds began to heal,” he said. This result of the Eron team’s successful treatment of 37 diabetic ulcers using maggots has not been confirmed by any independent researcher. Successful outcome: All of the patients in the study had some degree of arterial disease that reduced the blood supply to their limbs, making it difficult for the wounds to heal, in some cases for up to five years. These doctors placed 50-100 larvae of the filamentous fly on the wounds, where the larvae stayed for two days before being replaced with new larvae, a process that was repeated an average of five times. ”We shut these larvae up with a filamentous mesh-like structure, sometimes using tubular nylon mesh, and then we close them up so they can’t escape,” Dr. Eron said. The maggots secrete substances on the wound that liquefy the necrotic tissue, which the maggots then swallow and further break down and digest in the digestive tract. In the process, the wound is cleaned, and other substances in the maggot secretions help the growth of granulation tissue, a type of connective tissue that gradually forms during this wound healing process. Twenty-one of the patients were successfully healed; their infections were eradicated, all necrotic tissue was removed, connective tissue began to form, and more than three-quarters of the wounds healed. ”Five wounds were infected by a superbug called MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus), but they were also successfully cured by maggot therapy. All 10 infected wounds caused by Streptococcus B were also successfully healed.” Dr. Eron said. But this treatment did not work in some patients. One, the patient had severe inflammation around the wound, two, excessive bleeding, and three, an accompanying bone tissue infection. Asked how he persuades patients to experience this treatment, Dr. Eron said he explains all the procedures in detail and then has them sign a consent form. ”Many patients may be concerned about having live worms placed on their wounds, so we need to explain to them how this treatment is done and some of the problems it can cause.” Dr. Eron said, “After this (maggot therapy), we continue treatment with hydrocolloid dressings, cellular tissue cultures or negative pressure materials, but in order for these treatments to be effective, it is necessary to clean the wound well, remove necrotic tissue and allow healthy granulation tissue to grow in the wound, and that is what maggots can do”