Maggots don't heal wounds faster – and they're a pain

Published on Friday 20 March 2009 19:31

TREATING leg ulcers with maggots may be more painful but no quicker than standard treatments, researchers say.

Scientists found little difference when they compared patients treated with maggots – "larval therapy" – with those given a standard "hydrogel", except that the larval therapy was associated with more pain.

The study, in the British Medical Journal, is the first to compare maggots with standard treatment for clinical and cost-effectiveness. It appears to contradict suggestions that larval therapy removes dead tissue from wounds more swiftly.

Last year, The Scotsman found maggots were used in several parts of Scotland to treat NHS patients' wounds.

The study focused on the use of maggots in treating patients with leg ulcers.

The removal of dead tissue promotes healing.

The trial involved 267 participants. The researchers found "no difference between larvae and hydrogel groups in health-related quality of life or in bacterial load".

The researchers at the University of York suggested that "larval therapy is likely to be as costly and as effective as hydrogel".