MAGGOT DEBRIDEMENT THERAPY (MDT)
References on MDT and related subjects
By John C. T. Church
® Indicates that I have a reprint, or photocopy.
®Abram LJ, Froimson AI. Myiasis (Maggot Infection) as a
complication of Fracture Management. Case Report and Review of the
Literature.
(The Journal doesn’t feature on the reprint that Dr. Hall gave me, but there is
some information; April 1987 Vol 10/No4, pp 625-627).
®Ahuja A. Scientists “are losing war on superbugs”.
The Times. Thursday 28/1/1999, p 7.
Describes the first of a new series of Royal Institution lectures.
”Bacteria typically evolve resistance to any drug within about four years
of its introduction”.
®Alexander E. Surgical Maggots. (Letters to the Editor) South
Med. J. 1987;80(10):1333.
1.3.95. Reprint given to me by Ronald Sherman, Jan.95. No refs.
®Anderson A. Personal communication, 13.4.96
“50 years ago ... a working horse with its leg fast in a wire fence ... blow
flies were allowed on the wound, for the maggots to breed and eat all the pus
etc away. The horse made a perfect recovery”
®Anderson N. Skin Crawls - Then Heals. Los
Angeles Times. 21st July 1997
Article sent to me by Dr. Ron Sherman. Quotes the UK work and the lab. in
Wales..
®Anderson Tatum. Artificial skin, live maggots and ultrasound. The
Financial Times 21.4.98 ?page.
Has a section entitled: "Natural methods" describing "Maggot
Debridement Therapy". Also has a section on hyperbaric oxygen
therapy.
®Andrews AM, Thomas S, Wilson M. The effect of hydrogels on maggot
growth. Wound Repair and Regeneration. Sept-October 1998;6(5):A496
Conclusion: Propylene glycol, a stabilising agent in hydrogels, inhibits maggot
growth. Purilon, the only hydrogel tested which does not contain
Propylene glycol, did not inhibit growth. This work was presented in a
poster shown at the ETRS meeting in Copenhagen 27-30 May 98.
®Andrews AM, Jones M, Champion A. Larval therapy and wound management.
Medical Microbiologist, Autumn 1999:18-19 23 refs.
Andrews MLA. The Life That Lives on Man. London: Arrow Books 1978;
122
1.7.95 quoted in ®Rowbotham TJ, below.
®Appleby R. Personal communication. 23.7.95
She saw the second of the Tomorrow”s World programmes. Her mother was a
nurse at an Army Hospital in Evesham during the 1914-1919 War. “Many of the
wounded coming straight back from the front with just field dressings on their
wounds.. some of the wounds were infested with maggots - but the flesh was
clean, and many were saved especially those with bad limb wounds from
gangrene”.
®Appleton I. Wound repair: the role of cytokines and vasoactive
mediators. J Royal Soc Med Sept. 1994;87:500-502
2.9.94. A good summary of the subject. 21 refs.
®Backman B. Marvel of Maggots. New Scientist. 3 June 1995:50.
27.6.95 Gives two anecdotes; a soldier at Passchendaele, and an injured
sailor in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, healed by maggots. But quotes surgeons
who said, of maggots: “their use was not advised in general practice”.
Has a good cartoon! See also ®Silcock S. 1995.
Baer WS. Viable antisepsis in chronic osteomyelitis. Proc
Interstate Postgrad Med Assem North Am Oct 1929;5:365-372
Baer WS. Sacroiliac Joint; Arthritis Deformans; Viable
Antiseptic in Chronic Osteomyelitis. Proc Internat Assembly Inter-state
Post-grad Med Assn North Am 1930;V:371
®Baer WS. The treatment of chronic osteomyelitis with the maggot
(larva of the blowfly). J Bone Joint Surg 1931;13:438-475
No refs, except as footnotes to the text.
®Bailey,Penny. Wellcome News Q2 2000 Natures little helpers.
Maggots and wound healing.
This article was written for Wellcome News by Penny Bailey, Corporate Writer
(see e-mail correspondence, under p.bailey@wellcome.ac.uk). Wellcome News is
published by the Wellcome Trust, giving news of their involvement with
scientific research.
“They may look revolting but they do a great job: maggots can work miracles in
human wounds. The hunt is on for the key biological agents”.
This article ends with a “box” section entitled “Wars, wounds and maggots”
giving a brief history of larval therapy.
®Bale S. A guide to wound debridement. Journal of Wound Care
April 1997;6(4):179-182
pp. 181-182 mentions “Biosurgery” 27 refs.
®Bargoin V. Des asticots pour traiter les plaies. Le Quotidien du
Medecin, No.5671, 10.7.1995.
Talks of Dr. David Rogers” work, and refers to the paper (below): ®Sherman
RA, Wyle F, Vulpe M. Maggot therapy
for treating pressure ulcers in spinal cord injury patients. Journal of
Spinal Cord Medicine. 1995;18(2):71-74.
Bednarikova L, Lejska V. Living larvae of the fly Lucilia
sericata in a trepanation cavity after atticoantrotomy.
Cesk Otolaryngol 1977;26:172
®Betts JA, Molan PC. A pilot trial of honey as a wound dressing has shown
the importance of the way that honey is applied to wounds. 2001.
Poster at the 11th Conference of the European Wound Management Association
(EWMA).
Bettsworth, Mrs. Personal communication (Telephone - 0181 761 4955)
21.7.95 Mrs Bettsworth telephoned, to tell me that her husband was in the
Normandy Landings, and was struck by a shell in the Falaise Gap. He had a
severe wound of the right upper arm, and the “artery was severed”, but the limb
was saved. Later, he had a plaster cast on, and maggots appeared under
the plaster. The wounds then healed and never recurred. He later
became a sheet metal worker, and died in 1978.
®Betune N. A case of chronic thoracic empyema treated with maggots.
Canadian Medical Association Journal 1935;32:301-302
15.6.95. Photocopy sent to me by Mr. Jim Huntley,
Bitting ND. Acute osteomyelitis and complications.
South Med J 1921;22:580
®
This is a review article on Larva Therapy, highlighting Dr. Stephen Thomas”
lab, Dr. Sherman’s recent presentation at a wound care conference, and Mr. Mike
Walker’s report on cost effectiveness of LT. No refs.
®Brading MG. Investigation of the anti-bacterial properties of the
excretions of Calliphoridae larvae, and their possible complimentary grazing
actions.
®Brem H, Balledux J, Bloom T, Kerstein M, Hollier L, Falanga V. Optimal
wound bed preparation for the successful use of bioengineered skin in venous
ulcers. Wound Repair and Regeneration July-August 2000;8(4):323
This is an abstract of a paper read at one of the ETRS conferences. They
advocate surgical debridement. Nil on maggot therapy as a possible
alternative debridement method.
®Brown A, Burleigh JM, Billett EE, Pritchard DI. An initial
characterisation of the proteolytic enzymes secreted by the adult stage of the
human hookworm. Parasitology 1995;110:555-563
This paper was sent to me by Prof. David Pritchard. See other papers on
this subject, attached to this paper, in file.
®Brumpt E. Utilisation des larves de certaines mouches pour le
traitement de l”osteomyelite et de diverses affections chirurgicales
chroniques. Ann Parasitol 1933;11:403
5.4.95 Photocopied in the Bibliotheque Interuniversitaire de Medicine,
Paris (ref. BIUM 133803)
67 refs. Dr. Brumpt”s address: Laboratoire de parasitologie de la Faculte
de medicine de Paris.
®Buchman J, Blair JE. Maggots and their use in the treatment
of chronic osteomyelitis. Surg Gynecol Obstet
1932;55:177-190
28.9.94 Copied at the RSM. 17 refs.
®Bunkis J, Gherini S, Walton RL. Maggot therapy revisited.
West J Med Apr 1985;142:554-556
They report on a patient, an 88-yr-old woman, with a necrotic facial tumour,
who came to hospital with maggots in the ulcer. They left them in, to
good effect. The wound contained “several blowfly larvae”, but they
did not identify them. p.556: “maggot therapy is outstandingly
cost-effective”.
®Burgess I. Myiasis - The Development of Fly Larvae in Living Organisms.
The Dressing Times 1991;4(No2).
27.9.95 Reprint sent me by Dr. Stephen Thomas. The Dressing Times
is produced by the Surgical Materials Testing Laboratory (SMLT),
Bridgend. 12 refs.
®Carlin G. Personal communication. 25.1.95
Treated a patient terminally ill with gangrene of the feet, in 1988. He used
about 200 “blue bottle” maggots, obtained from a fish tackle shop. This
treatment was “tolerated by the patient, eliminated gangrenous odour,
transformed wet gangrene to dry, reduced the dose of opiates, and overall
contributed to patient well being.” He included full clinical details.
®Casu RE, Pearson RD, Jarmey JM, Cadogan LC, Riding GA, Tellam RL.
Excretory/secretory chymotrypsin from Lucilia cuprina : purification,
enzymatic specificity and amino acid sequence deduced from mRNA. Insect
Molecular Biology 1994;3(4):201-211
1.3.95. Reprint given to me by Martin Hall. 37 refs.
®Casu RE, Jarney JM, Elvin CM, Eisemann
®Casu RE, Eisemann CH, Vuoculo T, Tellam RL. The major
excretory/secretory protease from Lucilia cuprina larvae is also a gut
digestive protease. International Journal for Parasitology.
1996;26(6):623-628
®Casu RE, Eisemann CH, Pearson RD, Riding GA, East I, Donaldson A, Cadogen L,
Tellam RL. Proceedings of the
Chernin E. The malariatherapy of neurosyphilis. J
Parasitol 1984;70:611-617
Chernin E. Surgical maggots. Southern Medical Journal 1986;79
No9:1143-1145
Comments that from 1929-1935 there were about 100 papers on various aspects of
maggot therapy, and “many more by 1940”.
®Child FS, Jefferson P, Roberts EF, River P. The treatment of chronic
osteomyelitis with live maggots. N
28.9.94 RSM library rack 1219c. 4 refs.
®Church JCT. The Early Management of Open Wounds: shall we use Maggots?
East & Central African Journal of Surgery 1994;2(2):
®Church JCT. ETRS working party consensus paper on wound debridement.
Surgery 1995;13(10):228c-d
®Church JCT, Sherman R, Cherry G. The Use of Larvae in the Debridement of
Chronic Wounds. 1995.
Paper read at the 5th Annual Meeting of the ETRS,
Abstract, and fuller text in file.
®Church JCT. Blow fly larvae as agents of debridement in chronic infected
wounds. 1995.
Paper presented at the 5th European Conference on Advances in Wound Management,
21-24 November 1995.
®Church JCT. Biosurgery. Journal of Wound Care Feb
1996;5(2):51
Editorial. c.f. Thomas S. Journal of Wound Care
Feb.1996;5(2)(Special Supplement):60-69
®Church JCT. Nature’s Wound Scavengers. Paper prepared on
®Church JCT. Biotherapy in
Paper read at the Inauguration Meeting at the Dedication of the New Building of
the Regional Dermatology Centre, at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College,
Moshi, Tanzania, on 17th Jan. 1997
®Church JCT. Biotherapy in modern medicine.
®Church JCT. Larva therapy in modern wound management.
Directory of Community Nursing 1998; 38-41
®Church JCT. Trauma Management in the developing world.
International Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma 1996;
p. 30: "a larva therapy service... has been established in the
®Church JCT. The Traditional Use of Maggots in Wound Healing, and
the Development of Larva Therapy (Biosurgery) in Modern Medicine. Journal
of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine. 1996;2(4):525-527
®Church JCT. The early management of open wounds: shall we use maggots?
East and Central African Journal of Surgery 1996;2(2):9-12.
®Church JCT. Larva Therapy in Wound Management. In: Modern
Approaches to Wound Management. Contributions to the Convatec Wound Healing
forum.
®Church JCT. Biotherapy: The Way Forward. 1998
A paper presented at the 3rd IBS Conference, in
®Church JCT. Larva Therapy in the Management of Chronic Wounds.
Geriatric Medicine. 1999;29(3):17-18.
®Church JCT. Larva Therapy in Modern Wound Care: A Review.
Primary Intention. The Australian Journal of Wound Management
May 1999; 63-68
31
refs.
®Church JCT. International Biotherapy Society. 1999
IBS Chairman’s Report, presented at the 4th IBS Conference, 10-11 June
1999, Porthcawl,
®Church JCT. Chairman’s opening remarks. 4th IBS Conference 10-11 June
1999.
Full text in file on this meeting.
®Church JCT. Larval Therapy an International Perspective. 1999.
Paper presented on
®Church JCT. Biosurgery: Larval Intervention in the Chronic Wound 2000
Paper read at the EWMA Conference in Stockholm, 18-20 May 2000
Abstract published by EWMA, in the Proceedings of this Conference.
®Church JCT. Biosurgery: Larval Intervention in the Chronic Wound.
2000
Paper read at the 5th IBS Conference in
®Church JCT. Larval Intervention in the Chronic Wound. 2000
Abstract published in the Abstracts of the Girdlestone Orthopaedic Society
Meeting in
®Church JCT. Larva therapy, Past, Present and Future. 2000
Paper read at the 5th IBS Conference, in
®Cohen J. Feeding the fish. An unusual treatment.
BMJ 2000;320:181 (15th January)
This is the account of Jonnie Cohen’s visit to South India, part of which was
with me, when I put him on to the search for “scavenger fish” for cleansing
wounds. He states; “The day may yet come where dermatology departments
offer maggot treatment for the drier lesions, and the “biopool" for the
wetter ones."
Cole FR. The Flies of
®Cook F. ”I yelled and screamed at God: “You can’t leave me to die”.
Agony of fallen climber in five-day ordeal. Article in the Mail on
Blowflies settled on his open wounds, and doctors later told him that the
maggots had helped stop the wounds become infected. Article sent to me by
Mr. Robert St. John Boswell. (8.1.96 Mrs Frances Boswell seen in
the Leg Ulcer OP Clinic at the
®Cookson C. On the alert for cries of pain. Financial Times
Feb 13-14 1999 p.11
“The human immune system may be picking up cellular distress signals after the
brain, our immune defenses are the most complex and least understood system in
the body. Refers to “a German study, last week in the Lancet”...
®Cornwell B. Novel entitled: ”Sharpe’s Eagle”, describes Lieutenant
Richard Sharpe (the protagonist of a series of novels based around the
Napoleonic era), who was wounded in the thigh. “A handful of maggots did more
than any army doctor, eating away the diseased tissue to let the healthy flesh
close naturally”.
17.10.95: Cutting supplied by Miss Grace Biffen.
®Courtenay M. Present Day Experience of Larva therapy in the
A paper presented at the 3rd IBS Conference in
®Courtenay M. Larva Therapy in the
Poster at the ETRS 8th Annual Meeting, in
®Courtenay M. Larva Therapy in the
240 hospitals; LT mostly used as a “last resort”, also LT effective vs MRSA.
®Courtenay M. The use of larval therapy in wound management in the
12 refs.
®Courtenay M. Larval therapy in the management of wounds: clinical
update. British Journal of Community Nursing 1999;4(6):290-292
24 refs
.
®Courtenay M, Church JCT, Ryan TJ. Larva Therapy in wound management.
JRSM Feb. 2000;93(2):72-74
20 refs.
®Courtenay M. Larva Therapy. Nursing Times.
14 refs.
Cox J. Personal communication, 17.1.96
He was in the North African campaign in the Second World War, and was wounded
in the neck. In the hospital in
®
Candida
Crile G, Martin E. In Clinical Congress of Surgeons of
Daniel M, Srámová H, Zálabská E. Lucilia
sericata (Diptera:Calliphoridae) causing hospital-acquired myiasis of a
traumatic wound. J Hosp Infect 1994;28:149-152
1.7.95 Ref. quoted in ®Rowbotham TJ 1995 (see below).
®Dawe V. Health service pays high price for skin failure. Hospital
Doctor.
““Skin failure” is rapidly becoming the NHS’s costliest problem”.
®Dewar GM. Personal communication, 24.11.95
She has a friend who was “severely wounded during the last war. He lay in
a barn for three days before being taken prisoner, and put in Stalag 9c.
A German doctor said amputate, another one said no and used maggots.
I am very glad to say he kept his arm. The treatment was applied in
a
Diddle AW. Surgical Maggots (Letters to the Editor) South Med. J.
1987;80(10):1333.
1.3.95. Reprint given to me by Ronald Sherman, Jan.95. No refs.
®Dillon RJ. Antimicrobial agents associated with insects. In:
Natural Antimicrobial Systems and Food Preservation. Edited by Dillon VM
(
17.5.95 Reprint given to me by Dr. Martin Hall. Massive
bibliography, 172 refs.
®Dinnage VH. Personal communication, 14.2.96
Letter written to Mr. Geoff. Watts, Producer of Medicine Now, BBC Radio 4, in
response to the programme on Larva Therapy, as transmitted on 13th February.
Letter then sent on to me. Miss Vera Dinnage (now age 72) was a
student nurse at Queen Mary”s Hospital, Carshalton, in the early 1940s.
She saw: “many children suffering terribly with osteomyelitis (pre-antibiotics).
My first encounter with maggots was when I was told to remove a POP from
leg of little boy ... out came this writhing mass of fat maggots! The
treatment was effective and widely used, although few people believe me ...
society has grown to expect drugs for every cure, we must not exclude what
nature offers”.
23.6.96 A ref. in a letter from Dr. Sherman dated
®
"A war time true story. I was in the R.A.F....one of our pilots
turns up ... shot in the arm ... what saved is arm was the maggots that ate up
the poison ... he recovered to back on ops."
®Dobson R. There’s a bug in my bandage. The
Independent. The Tuesday Review. Health Section
30.3.1999
®Doe PT, Hofman D, Church JCT, Cherry G, Ryan TJ. Larvae and their
use in chronic wounds - Experience in
This was a paper prepared by Dr. Doe, whilst working in the Dermatology
Department, the
Dr. Doe presented this work in a paper presented at the 3rd IBS Conference,
held in
Dowding VM. The formation of the cuticular ridges in the larval pharynx
of the blowfly (Calliphora vicina R.-D.). Parasitology. 58(3):683-90, 1968 Aug.
16.8.00 Initial details of this paper given me by Prof. David Molyneux,
of the
®Duncan JT. On a Bactericidal Principle present in the
Alimentary Canal of Insects and Arachnids. Parasitol
1926;18:238-252
10.8.94. 7 refs.
Dyson M. Professor, The Tissue Repair Research Unit,
She has a technician from
Edgar P, Phillips LG, Heggers JP. Adventitious debridement: myiasis
revisited. AJIC 1995:124
23.6.96. Ref given in a letter from Dr. Sherman, May 13 1996, on
guidelines for patient selection for MDT
®Editorial. Pharmaceutical Journal, Dec 9. 1995.
Sterile maggots used in wound management.
An account of Dr. Stephen Thomas” work in Bridgend, with good illustrations. No
author given, and no refs.
®Editorial. Maggot treatment burgeons. The
Pharmaceutical Journal 1997;258:583
®Editorial. Maggots to the rescue. The Spark.
Perhaps the earliest published description of Larva Therapy in the
®Ehrlich HP. Debriding wounds the natural way by myiasis.
This essay is an abbreviation of an article written by Joel Grossman,
(see ®Grossman J. Flies as medical allies. The world & I.
October 1994:187-193, below)
®Ehrlich F. Maggot heroes. The Sydney Morning Herald.
In the course of Australian Senate discussions on nursing home patients,
maggots were mentioned. This letter gives details on the positive action
of maggots in wounds in debridement, etc. Professor Frederick Ehrlich,
®Epstein RH. How maggots nurse wounds. Globe and Mail,
A brief article on the fly cultures in the Entomology Department,
®Epstein RH. Maggots heal human wounds.
A cutting sent to me (by whom?) from a newspaper, but without any indication
which, or when. There are gross factual errors in this article. A
photograph clearly shows Mr. Paul Embden, but he is named as “David Rogers”. I
am misquoted, repeatedly.
®Erdmann GR, Bromel M, Gassner G, Freeman
TP, Fischer A. Antibacterial activity
demonstrated by culture filtrates of Proteus mirabilis isolated from Screwworm
(Cochliomyia hominivorax) (Diptera:Calliphoridae) larvae. J Med
Entomol 1984;21:159-164
The excreta of various flies, ticks, and other arthropods have been shown to
contain bactericidal substances effective against both Gram-positive and
Gram-negative bacteria.
®Erdmann GR. Khalil SKW. Isolation and
identification of two antibacterial agents produced by a strain of Proteus
mirabilis isolated from larvae of the Screwworm (Cochliomyia hominivorax)
(Diptera: Calliphoridae). J Med Entomol
1986;23:208-211
The two bactericidal compounds are: Phenylacetic acid (PAA), and
phenylacetaldehyde (PAL). These compounds are lipophylic, and their
activity is greatest at pH 2.5, ie acidic. The pH of the larva midgut is
2.9.
®Erzinclioglu Z. Maggots, Murder and Men. Memories and reflections
of a forensic entomologist. 2000 Harley Books.
pp. 213 - 216 Dr. Erzinclioglu refers to Mr. John Church and “maggot
therapy”.
®Erdmann GR. Antibacterial action of myiasis-causing flies.
Parasiotology Today 1987;3:214-216
®Evans H. A treatment of last resort. Nursing Times
1997;93(23):62-65
This is The Nursing Times article of June 4th 1997, describing the elderly
patient with gangrene of the foot, sent home to die, but obtaining pain and
odour relief with larva therapy.
Fabre JH. The Life of the Fly.
Fabricius, Hieronymus. ab Aquapendente. Medicina
Practica. Paris, Clodoveum Cottard 1634;IV:651
5.4.95 Found in the Bibliotheque Nationale de Paris; Catalogue No.
Td30.90.
No photocopying allowed, but could be photographed if I put in a special
request. I found page 651, but as it is all in Latin I could not be sure
that it was relevant. However, see Brumpt E, 1933. page 404.
®Felsberg HD. Short Story - “Her Just Reward”. 1977. A document
sent to Dr. David Rogers, from Mr. and Mrs H D Felsberg. Labrador.
The story tells of a fisherman who suffered a laceration of the hand with
severe infection, becoming “an angry mass of tissue, a bloated limb, a useless
appendage, a very threat to life itself”. An 80 year old widow was allowed to
try the: “old way my mother show me” - applying maggots to the wound, with
success.
®Ferguson LK, McLaughlin CW. Maggot therapy. A
rapid method of removing necrotic tissues. Am J Surg
1935;29:72-84
Fine A, Alexander H. Maggot therapy - technique and clinical application.
J Bone Joint Surg. 1934;16:572-582
quoted in ®Sherman & Levsen (unpublished - 1995).
®Fleischmann W, Russ MK, Moch D. Chirurgische Wundbehandlung. Der
Chirurg. 1998;69:222-232
®Friis-Møller A, Gottrup F. The effect of Lucilia Sericata larvae
on bacteria and yeast isolated from wounds and the lack of effect of
antimicrobials on the larvae.
A paper
presented at: ”Back to the Future”. The 11th Conference of the European
Wound Management Association. 17-19th May 2001 Dublin Ireland. Pseudomonas aeruginosa
cultures were apparently unaffected by larvae and the larvae died. All
other wound organisms tested were “totally cleansed”. No refs.
®Gacheru I. A Case Report: The Use of Maggots in Wound Treatment.
The Nairobi
Hospital Proceedings 1998;2(4):234-238
This was the patient with necrotising fasciitis, under the care of Mr. Imre
Loefler, Consultant Surgeon at the Nairobi Hospital. Good illustrations.
7 refs.
®Galbraith JH. Treatment of chronic osteomyelitis.
Pennsylvania Med J. 1931;34:316-318
28.9.94: Copied, RSM library. 2 refs. NB. This paper follows
the paper by Weil et al, 1931, and the copies are together.
®Galtsoff PS, Lutz FE, Welch PS, Needham JG. Culture methods for
invertebrate animals. 1937. Dover Publications, Inc, New
York. pp. 418-427
8.10.94 Photocopy sent me by Dr. Martin Hall. Subtitle: A
compendium prepared cooperatively by American zoologists under the direction of
a committee from Section F of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science. Gives good practical details on how to rear maggots for surgical
use. 10 refs.
®Gayle S. Myiasis. Two Case Reports. The Military
Surgeon (Journal of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States)
(Jan-June)1933;72:225-227
Note: First case was infested with Chrysomia macellaria , with near
disastrous result. Then four cases described with infestation with Dermatobia
hominis, with unpleasant noxious, but treatable, result. 6.11.96
I searched The Military Surgeon, in the RSM Library, from 1930-1939, to
find only this report on Myiasis. But see Lewis D. below, in same journal
1936 The Treatment of War Wounds.
®Goldstein HI.. Maggots in the treatment of wound and bone
infections. J Bone Joint Surg
1931;13:476-478
This paper contains good quotes from the very early reports of maggots in
wounds.
Goldstein HI Maggots in the Treatment of Wounds, Compound
Fractures and Osteomyelitis. J Am Med Assn
Jan 24, 1931;96:290
7.6.99 I looked up this ref. in the RSM library. It is a short letter to
the Editor; “treatment with maggots is more than 100 years old” ... “I saw
maggots used in the old Provincial General Hospital, Madrid, Spain, in August
1929”. Quotes Larrey and Malgaigne.
®Goldstein HI. Live maggots in the treatment of chronic
osteomyelitis, tuberculous abscesses, discharging wounds, leg ulcers, and
discharging inoperable carcinoma. Internat Clin 1932;4:269-281
10.8.94. Photocopied at the RSM. 23 refs, including 10 “Biblical” refs.
®Gordon S, Allan T. Docteur Bethune. 1952 Translated from
French by Jean Paré. Editions l’étincelle.
p.59 Dr. Bethune drained a pleural abscess, then treated the wound with
maggots. After the treatment, during which the maggots died, “les
écoulements avaient presque disparu, le nombre de streptocoques avaient
radicalement diminué et la surface du poumon appparaissait saine”.
Dr. Bethune died, November 13 1939.
See also ref Valois-Bachand, below.
®Gottrup F, Melby BØ, Jensen MH, Müller K, Holstein,P.
Maggot Therapy especially related to the diabetic foot?
Early results.
Abstract of a paper presented at the 11th Conference of the European Wound
Management Association. 17-19 May 2001, Dublin,
Ireland.
16 patients treated. Conclusion. Maggot therapy seems to be a safe
and effective treatment of necrosis in the diabetic foot ulcers. A
randomised study is being set up. No refs.
®Grantham-Hill C. Preliminary note on the treatment of infected
wounds with the larva of Wohlfartia nuba. Trans Roy
Soc Trop Med & Hyg 1933;27:93
®Grey JE, Harding KG. The chronic non-healing wound: how to make it
better. Hospital Medicine. July 1998;59(7):557-56323.11.98
28 refs, not yet studied. They quote Thomas S, et al 1996 J Wound Care 5:60-69
Nil on vacuum pump. Only one small mention of larva therapy: p562:
“Other interesting areas of wound healing research include: ... 3. The use of
sterile maggots in wound debridement and prevention and control of wound
infection (e.g. Thomas et al, 1996)”
®Greenall D. Personal communication, 13.3.95. Her father was
wounded in the First World War, and “had maggots in his wounds ... they
saved his life”. He died about 10 years ago.
®Greenberg B. Persistence of bacteria in the developmental stages of the
housefly. I. Survival of enteric pathogens in the normal and aseptically reared
host. Am J Tropical Medicine And Hygiene 1959;8:404-411.
11.10.94 Reprint sent me by Professor Greenberg. 11 refs.
12.4.95 N.B. I have 16 papers by this author.
®Greenberg B. Persistence of bacteria in the developmental stages of the
housefly. II. Quantitative study of the host-contaminant relationship in
flies breeding under natural conditions. Am J Tropical Medicine and
Hygiene 1959;8:412-416
11.10.94 Reprint sent me by Professor Greenberg. 6 refs.
®Greenberg B. Persistence of bacteria in the developmental stages of the
housefly. III. Quantitative distribution in prepupae and pupae. Am
J Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 1959;8:613-617
11.10.94 Reprint sent me by Professor Greenberg. 9 refs.
®Greenberg B. Persistence of bacteria in the developmental stages of the
housefly. IV. Infectivity of the newly emerged adult. Am J Tropical
Medicine and Hygiene 1959;8:618-622
11.10.94 Reprint sent me by Professor Greenberg. 21 refs.
®Greenberg B. Host-contaminant biology of muscoid flies: I.
Bacterial survival in the pre-adult stages and adults of four species of blow
flies. J Insect Pathology 1960;2:44-54
11.10.94 Reprint sent me by Professor Greenberg. 6 refs.
®Greenberg B. Host-contaminant biology of muscoid flies. II.
Bacterial survival in the stable fly, false stable fly, and the little house
fly J Insect Pathology 1962;4:216-223
11.10.94 Reprint sent me by Professor Greenberg. 10 refs.
®Greenberg B. Host-contaminant biology of muscoid flies. III.
Effect of hibernation, diapause, and larval bactericides on normal flora of
blow-fly prepupae. J Insect Pathology;(Dec)1962;4:415-428
11.10.94 Reprint sent me by Professor Greenberg. 32 refs.
®Greenberg B, Miggiano V. Host-contaminant biology of muscoid flies.
J Infectious Diseases 1963;112:37-46
11.10.94 Reprint sent me by Professor Greenberg. 10 refs.
®Greenberg B. Bacterial interactions in gnotobiotic flies. IX
International congress for microbiology. Symposium D II. Gnotobiology.
Moscow, 1966. 371-380
11.10.94 Reprint sent me by Professor Greenberg. 4 refs, all his.
®Greenberg B. Micro-potentiometric pH determinations of muscoid
maggot digestive tracts. Annals of the Entomological Society of
America. 1968;61:365-368
11.10.94 Reprint sent me by Professor Greenberg. 7 refs.
®Greenberg B. Model for destruction of bacteria in the midgut of blow fly
maggots. J Medical Entomology 1968;5:31-38
11.10.94 Reprint sent me by Professor Greenberg. 15 refs.
®Greenberg B. Sterilising Procedures and agents, antibiotics and
inhibitors in mass rearing of insects. Bulletin of the Entomological
Society of America 1970;16:31-36
11.10.94 Reprint sent me by Professor Greenberg. 63 refs. See
also Pendola and Greenberg, “75.
®Greenberg B, Kowalski JA, Klowden MJ.
Factors affecting the transmission of Salmonella by flies:
Natural resistance to colonisation and bacterial interference.
Infection and Immunity. Dec. 1970 Vol.2
No6:800-809
®Greenberg B. Two cases of human myiasis caused
by Phaenicia sericata (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in Chicago area
hospitals. J. Med. Entomol. 1984;21:616
11.10.94 Reprint sent me by Professor Greenberg. No refs.
®Greenberg B. Flies as forensic indicators. J. Med. Entomol.
1991;28:565-577
11.10.94 Reprint sent me by Professor Greenberg. 72 refs.
®Grose TK. Lucrative leeches. Time February 22 1999. p.60
Welsh firms are stirring up success with a host of wriggling remedies
from medicine’s distant past.
The first two paragraphs of this report are devoted to the SMTL “Biosurgery”
lab work in Bridgend.
®Grossman J. Medicine: Maggot Therapy and Mites.
ESA “87 IPM Highlights - Part 5. IPM Practitioner
1988;X(8):12
®Grossman J. Flies as medical allies. The world &
I. October 1994:187-193.
21.10.94. Reprint given to me by Martin Hall. See esp. p. 193.
No refs.
Guicheney P. Rehabilitation de l”asticot. Nouvelle Presse Medicale
1980;9:964
1.6.95 quoted in ®Sherman et al, J.Spinal Cord Med.
®Guerrini VH. Ammonia toxicity and alkalosis in sheep infested by Lucilia
cuprina larvae. Internat. J. for Parasitology 1988;18(1):79-81
1.3.95 Reprint given to me by Martin Hall. 17 refs.
®Hall MJR Screwworm flies as agents of wound myiasis.
World Animal Review Oct.1991; 8-17
A detailed and well-illustrated article of screwworm myiasis. NB.
There is a good paper in the same edition of this review (p.36) on the
mass-production of larvae. The principles would apply to “good” larvae as
much as to “bad”.
®Hall MJR, Smith KGV. Diptera causing myiasis in man.
Chap.12 in "Medical Insects and Arachnids" by Richard P. Lane
and Roger W. Crosskey (Eds); 1993, Chapman and Hall, 723pp
A good summary of “Maggot Therapy”, and extensive bibliography. The relevant
chapter, in the now published book®, is chapter 12: Diptera causing
myiasis in man, by Hall MJR, Smith KGV; pp. 429-469
®Hall MJR. Trapping the flies that cause myiasis: their responses
to host-stimuli. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology
1995:89(4);333-357.
24.10.95. Paper sent to me by Dr. Martin Hall; about 150 refs.
®Hallett A. Personal communication, 5.8.95
This is a letter from Miss Hallett, (Senior lecturer/Specialist Advisor Tissue
Viability) giving details of a patient who had had a total hip replacement,
developed a pressure sore of the heel, and then had maggots in the wound.
23 maggots were removed and sent to me for identification. They are
all 3rd instar larvae of Lucilia sericata. This is, I think, the
first reported such case, of human wound infestation with Lucilia sericata
in UK.
®Hamilton Bailey. Maggot Therapy in Infected Wounds.
Surgery of Modern Warfare Vol 1. E & S Livingstone
1942. Chapter XVI pp. 155 - 160 6 refs.
Excellent account of the breeding of maggots, sterilisation of eggs, and Maggot
Therapy. "Maggots are vouchsafed what is forbidden to the surgeon,
for they can remove necrotic tissue without interfering with Nature’s
protective barriers. Furethermore, maggots can crawl into every nook and
crany and accomplish what the knife can never do. Maggot therapy has
proved particularly efficacious in soft-tissue infection with extensive
laceration and a large amount of necrotic tissue." They describe
pain, bleeding, oedema and pyrexia. The final section is on:
"Possibilities of maggot therapy on a large scale in war wounds."
®Hay D. What’s eating that patient? It”s maggots. The Sydney
Morning Herald. Saturday July 26 1997.
A cutting sent to me by Mr. Sydney Nade, from Sydney. The article was written
by David Hay, “in Los Angeles”. It states that Dr. Sherman has “shipped
batches of the crawly creatures all over the world, including to Canada”.
®Hawkes N. The smart assasins. The Times. Wed.
December 16 1998.
Describes the work of an Israeli team, headed by Professor Yechiel Shai; short
(12 amino-acid peptides) produced by “insects and frogs” .. “attach themselves
to the surface membrane of bacteria, and dissolve it”
®Harris JH. Personal communication.
He refers to a book entitled "Elephant Bill", giving the experiences
of an Englishman who lived with a Malay tribe in the jungle, herding elephants.
He injured his leg, and the wound refused to heal. A tribesman
covered the wound with a “poultice of elephant dung in which there were
maggots. In a short time the maggots cleaned all the gangrene from the
wound, which healed successfully.”
®Health Service Journal. 17.12.1998
”Lord of the flies”.
Photo of Steve Thomas and brief description of the biosurgical research unit at
Bridgend, and the granting of the Millenium Product status.
Herms WB, Gilbert QO. An obstinate case of intestinal
myiasis. Ann Intern Med 1933;6:941
Hewitt JF. Osteomyelitis, development of the use of maggots
in treatment. Am J Nursing 1932;32:31-38
®Highfield R. Have maggots heal thyself. In Science Round-up,
Daily Telegraph 23.11.94
Sent to me by Alexandra Erskine, Librarian, Daily Telegraph, 2.8.95.
Describes Dr. Martin Hall’s Natural History Museum” annual report.
This is, I think, the first national press report, on the development of
this work in UK.
®Hill A. Doctors move to employ maggots in NHS. The Guardian.
Sunday 23rd July 2000
This is an article describing the study, in the West Cumberland Hospital, on
the cost effectiveness of Larva Therapy.
See also Clairre Phipps, with a similar article in the Guardian Tues. Aug 1st
2000.
®Hobson RP Studies in the nutrition of blow-fly larvae I.
Structure and function of the alimentary tract. J Exp
Biol London 1931;8: 109-123
12.4.95 I have 11 papers by this author. 27 refs.
®Hobson RP. On an enzyme from blow-fly larvae (Lucilia sericata)
which digests collagen in alkaline solution. Biochem J Camb
1931;25:1458-1463
12.4.95 7 refs.
®Hobson RP. Studies on the nutrition of blow-fly larvae.
II-IV J Exp Biol Edin 1932;128-138;359-365;366-377
Reprint only on pp. 128-138. 14 refs, not yet studied (NB No
volume number, but I think it is Vol. 1X.ii).
®Hobson RP. Growth of blow-fly larvae on blood and serum. I.
Response of aseptic larvae to Vitamin B. Biochem J Camb
1933;27:1899-1909
®Hobson RP. Sheep blow-fly investigations II. Substances
which induce Lucilia sericata to oviposit on sheep. Ann appl
Biol 1935;22:294-300
®Hobson RP. Growth of blow-fly larvae on blood and serum. I.
Growth in association with bacteria. Biochem J Camb
1935;29:1286-1291
®Hobson RP. On a fat-soluble growth factor required by
blow-fly larvae. I. Distribution and properties. Bioch
J Camb 1935;29:1292-1296
®Hobson RP. (1935. See under: Maldwyn Davies W
Hobson RP) Sheep blow-fly
investigations.
I. The relationship of humidity to blow-fly
attack.
®Hobson RP Sheep blow-fly investigations III.
Observations on the chemotropism
of Lucilia sericata MG. Ann appl Biol Camb
1936;23:845-851
®Hobson RP. Sheep blow-fly investigations IV. On the
chemistry of the fleece with reference to the susceptibility of sheep to
blow-fly attack. Ann appl Biol 1936;23:852-861
®Hobson RP. Sheep blow-fly investigations VII.
Observations on the development of eggs and oviposition in the
sheep blow-fly Lucilia sericata. Ann appl Biol
Camb 1938;25:573-582
®Hoeppli R. Parasites and Parasitic Infections in Early Medicine and
Science. 1959. University of Malaya Press, Singapore. Pp. 192-200
This is an extract from a book by this author with this title. The
section is sub-headed “Maggots”, and reviews Chinese and Western Literature,
mostly in a negative light. This material was obtained for me by Dr. John
Newton, Institute of Health Sciences, Oxford.
®Hofman D. Know How. A guide to wound debridement. Nursing
Times August 7 1996. This was an information leaflet, sponsored by
ConvaTec for the Nursing Times. 4 refs.
®Horn KL, Cobb AH, Gates GA. Maggot
therapy for subacute mastoiditis. Arch Otolaryngol
1976;102:377-379
®Horrobin DF. Innovation in the pharmaceutical industry.
Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 2000;93:341-345
A critical analysis of the present state of the development, flow and efficacy
of new drugs. ”... we simply do not know enough about the real solvent
environments of most proteins”.There is “a fundamental failure to understand
biological complexity”. “most people with a genome which predisposes them to
develop a common disease do not develop that disease...what we do need to know
is what are the environmental factors that are protecting us so
successfully...” 13 refs.
Horwood J Personal communication. 11.1.1996
(see Biosurgery Notebook No2, p.150) She worked with Mr, Binfield,
Orthopaedic Surgeon, Hastings, in 1972. A derotation osteotomy patient, with
infection, had maggots introduced into the wound, “with great success”. While
working in the community, she has had 6-7 patients with maggots in their
wounds. In ons such patient the maggots caused the amputation of a toe,
“and the patient did well”.
®Houghton D. Personal communication. 24.7.1995.
Mrs Houghton is a retired nurse, and worked with Mr. Heanly, in Worthing
Hospital, in the 1950s. There was a patient with an extensive leg ulcer,
on which a “blowfly” was allowed to settle, and the area was then bandaged
firmly. This was left in situ until Mr. Heanly “said he thought he would
like to see”. On taking the dressing down Mrs. Houghton was “horrified to
see about 1" mound of wriggly maggots - but the wound was perfectly
healthy looking”.
®Hunt ME. Personal communication. 10.5.95.
Mrs. Hunt read an article in The People on 7.5.95 on maggots in wounds.
She writes of her husband”s experiences, fifty years ago. "He
spent nearly eighteen months in hospital with osteomyelitis in his right foot.
At one point the doctors said he must lose his leg. But a German doctor,
known as Mr. Lawrence, used this treatment, and I am happy to say my husband
still has his foot."
®Huntley JS. Henry Norman Betune - Surgeon, Humanitarian and
Innovator. Surgery 1999;vi
12/5/99 Copy of this paper sent to me by James Huntley. (No details of
the volume). He refers to the paper by Betune (see ref. this collection),
and quotes widely from it. He refers to modern developments in Maggot
(Larva) Therapy.
®Isitt J. Research Notes: Flesh Eaters. Balance November -
December 1998 p.22
This journal is for diabetics; full title: Living with Diabetes. Balance - a
lifestyle.
Brief article on the IBS and Larva Therapy, efficacious in “diabetic feet”.
®Jack David. Combing the oceans for new therapeutic agents.
The Lancet Sept. 5, 1998:794
Article sent to me by Prof. Terence Ryan. No refs.
®James J. Personal communication, 11.3.1995
A friend, Mr. E.P. 30 years before, had an ulcer on his leg. Maggots,
from ?blue bottle flies, got under the dressings, and “after a short time it
had healed back to a healthy normal leg”..
James MT, Harwood RF. Herm’s Medical Entomology. 6th
Edition. New York:MacMillan 1969
12.4.95 Title? Also, where did I find this ref.? - ask Dr. Martin
Hall.
7.6.99 I enquired at the RSM; This book is not in the RSM library; “try
the British Museum”..
®Jenkins S. To climb the property ladder, find an artist. The Times
Friday April 6th 2001 page 22.
This is an article by Simon Jenkins describing how the advent of artists into a
run down area improves its quality and value. He compares this with
maggots; “They move into run-down neighborhoods and, like therapeutic maggots,
borrow into basements and attics ... healing wounds and restoring confidence”.
®Jewett EL. The use of Unna’s paste in the maggot treatment of
osteomyelitis. J Bone Joint Surg. 1933;15:513-515
28.9.94. copied RSM library. No refs.
®Johnson S. Larval therapy in the treatment of wounds: case
history. British Journal of Community Nursing. 1999;4(6)293-295
6 refs.
®Johnson S. Using larva therapy to debride an ischaemic toe. Nursing
Times. April 19 2001;97(16):39-40
4 refs.
®Job 7:5 Authorised Version. The Bible “My flesh is clothed with
worms and clods of dust, my skin is broken and become loathsome”.
Jones J. Confederate military prison hospital at Andersonville.
Contributions Relating to the Causation and Prevention of Disease, and to
Camp Diseases. Flint A (Ed). Sanitory Memoirs
(Medical Volume). US Sanitary Commission. New York,
Hurd and Houghton 1867:518-655
®Jones M, Thomas S. Wound Cleansing - a Therapy Revisited. Journal
of Tissue Viability 1997;7(4):119-121.
4 refs
®Jones M, Andrews A, Thomas S A case history describing
the use of sterile larvae (maggots) in a malignant wound.
World Wide Wounds. The electronic Journal of Wound
management practice
3 refs
®Jordan W. Phenomena, comment and notes. An article in the
Smithsonian Magazine (date?). pp. 26-32.
1994. Copy of this article sent to me by Dr. Sherman.
Adapted from the author’s book entitled “Divorce among the gulls”, published by
North Point Press. The article refers (p.30) to a very small wasp - Bathyplectes
curculionis - which oviposits inside the larvae. The wasp
larva develops inside the parasitised larva, destroying it.
NB. This wasp, or allied species, could be a potential danger to cultures
of Lucilia sericata .
®Kaaya GP. Assessment of antibiotic potentials of insect
antibacterial factors. Insect Science and its Application
1989;10(3):341-346
®Kampmeier RH. Surgical Maggots. (Letter to the Editor)
Southern Med.J. 1987;80(5):666
Jan.”95. Given to me by Ronald Sherman. Refers to Chernin,
1986 (see ref. above).
“the use of maggots to the point of their commercial production had gone on for
a decade before it was reported in the literature” ...
®Kennaugh J. Maggots and wound healing. Biological Sciences Review.
May 1995:26-27
11.5.95 Photocopy given to me by Miss Giemza. No refs, but I must
contact the author, as this is the latest paper on this subject. There is
a good illustration of Baron Larrey, on p.26.
®Kennedy D, Foster P. Made in Britain: the shape of the future. The
Times. November 3 1998. p.7
"a technique for using sterile maggots of the common greenbottle fly to
clean up wounds containing dead or infected tissue, as pioneered by the
biosurgical research unit in Bridgend" Report by Dominic Kennedy and
Peter Foster on the new wave of Millenium Products awards. The Bridgend
Research unit received one of these awards.
®Key JA. Maggot Treatment. Military Surgical Manuals.
National Research Council Vol. IV Orthopaedic Subjects
WB Saunders Co. 1942:273
23.9.97 Obtained at the RCS library, London.
The author states: "I have not used this method", and explains why.
®King AB, Flynn KJ. Maggot Therapy Revisited: A Case Study.
Dermatology Nursing. April 1991;3(2):100-102.
Description of a patient with stasis ulcers and adventitious maggot
infestation. The wound base “was clean” with “healthy granulation tissue
more abundant than it had ever been before”. 8 refs.
®Kirby, J Happy maggots fight bacteria. Magazine. June
1999, p. 92.
A review article on “Maggot Therapy”. Saga is a magazine for the elderly.
®Kirby, J Creepy Crawly Medicine. Ancient methods of healing
are making a comeback. Saga Magazine. September 1999, p.96
“Since our story on biotherapy (June) there has been a massive increase in
doctors ordering larval products ... 370 centers ... 7000 treatments ...
supplied.”
®Kumar A, Sherman RA, Gorakshakar P,
Goldstein M. The effects of gram positive and gram negative
bacteria on blow-fly growth and development. 1993.
This was a paper read by these authors at the Annual Meeting of the ESA,
Dec. 14 1993 - paper No. DSP0253
Lades R. Les extraits de Lucilia sericata en Therapeutique
Resultats Cliniques. These de Medicine, Legrand Ed., Paris, 1938.
Quoted in Sherman & Levsen (unpublished, 1995)
®Lane RP, Crosskey RW. (reprint of flysheet).
Medical Insects and Arachnids 1993; Chapman & Hall
23.9.94 I bought a copy of this book, via Martin Hall. Chapman
& Hall (2-6 Boundary Row, London SE1 8HN). see
particularly Chapter 12: Diptera causing myiasis in man, by Hall
MJR, Smith KGV, pp. 429-470
®Larrey, Barron DJ. Observations on Wounds, and their
Complications by Erysipelas, Gangrene and Tetanus, etc.
Translated from the French by EF Rivinus. Philadelphia, Key,
Miekle and Biddle 1832;34 Clinique Chirurgicale,
Paris (Novembre) 1829;51-52
quoted in Murdoch FF, 1931 (see copy of that paper for the quote).
5.4.95 Photocopied in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, cataloque No. 8o.Td138.23.
Tome No. 1 of 5. N.B. Also accompanying this series of five Tomes,
there were a number of Planches, of which I saw one example, with excellent
clinical drawings, but none of wounds in the sample I saw.
See also the extract (attached to this paper) from a modern Larousse, giving
more details of Larrey. Also, I have a photocopy of the magnificent oil
painting on the wall of the reading room of the Bibliotheque de l’Academie
Nationale de Medicine (16 rue Bonaparte, 75272 Paris), depicting Larrey
operating in the battle field.
® Leclercq M. Utilisation de larves de Dipteres - Maggot Therapy -
en medicine: historique et actualite. Bull Annls Soc.
r. belge Ent. 1990;126:41-50
Leclercq makes a plea for coordinated
research between entomologists and doctors to utilise larvae more...
NB: superb bibliography of 80 refs.
®Lederle - Surgical Maggots. Council of Pharmacy and
Chemistry. New and non-official remedies. JAMA
1932;98:401
®LeDran HF. A Treatise, or Reflections, drawn from practice on
Gun-shot wounds. Printed for John Clarke under the Royal Exchange
Cornhill. 1743:174-175
31.10.95 Photocopy, sent me by Mr. Chris Khoo. Translated from the
French original. ”The worms that sometimes generate in wounds, indicate
no evil”. ”They never appear in unkindly suppurations, or gangrenous
dispositions, but only in laudable suppurations..” ”When they grow large
they may irritate by their gnawing, which may give the patient very uneasy
twitchings”.(!)
®Lee DJ. Human myiasis in Australia. Med J Aust
1968;1:170
12.4.95 22 refs, not yet studied
®Lewis D. The Treatment of War Wounds. The Military Surgeon
(Journal of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States)
1936;79:10-12
Pays tribute to Larrey, Napoleon’s Surgeon-general, “who has been called the
greatest war surgeon that ever lived”. Nil however on larvae.
®Liebold K, Wollina U, Schmidt W-D, Fassler D.
Biosurgery improves granulation tissue - monitoring by remittance
spectroscopy. Wound Repair and Regeneration. September-October 2000.
A422
“Conclusion: Biosurgery is clinically effective to clean wounds and improve
healing ... beside debridement, biosurgery seems to improve oxygen supply
within granulation tissue.”
®Lindblad WJ. How sophisticated do we need to be? Wound
Repair and Regeneration. Sept-Oct. 1999;7(5):329
This is an Editorial, by the Editor-in-Chief of the Wound Rep Reg, the Official
Publication of the Wound Healing Society, the European Tissue Repair Society,
The Japanese Society for Wound Healing, and The Australian Wound Management
Association. No refs.
®Lindblad WJ. The more we know, the less we understand?
Wound repair and Regeneration. May - June. 2000;8(3):161
A further editorial by William Lindblad, Editor-in-Chief of this Journal.
”The one growth factor which we "knew" was central to wound
repair may actually not be central at all". No refs.
®Livingston SK, Prince LH. The treatment of
chronic osteomyelitis (with special reference to the use of the maggot active
principle). JAMA 1932;98:1143-1149
12.4.95 4 refs.
Livingston SK. Maggot treatment of osteomyelitis. J
Amer Med Ass 1932;98: 1585
®Livingston SK. Maggots in the treatment of chronic osteomyelitis,
infected wounds, and compound fractures. Surg Gynecol
Obstet 1932;54:702-706
®Livingston SK. The therapeutic active principle of maggots.
With a description of its clinical application in 567 cases.
J Bone Joint Surg Jul
1936;18:751-756
®Loefler IJP. Microbes, chemotherapy, evolution, and folly.
The Lancet. Dec 21/28 1996;348:1703-1704
13/4/99 A copy of this essay was given to me by Professor Douglas
Roy.
®Loefler IJP Managing Chronic Disease. BMJ. 28July
2001;323:241
“Health for all is unattainable. A disease free world is an illusion”.
®Longmore T. Gunshot Injuries. Their history, characteristic
features, complications, and general treatment. London. Longmans Green @
Co. 1877
p. 212-215. Chapter IV Invasion of gunshot wounds by maggots.
Generally deprecatory, but quotes Larrey faithfully (in an article of
1812). See also the Indian ref. of 1858, on p.639
Macalister CJ. A new cell proliferant: Its clinical
application in the treatment of ulcers. BMJ 1912;1:10
Macalister CJ. The action of Symphytum Officinale.
BMJ 1912; :702-703
(?this ref. needs Vol No.)
®McClellan RH. Medicolegal use of maggots. JAMA
1931;96:2226 (no refs).
®McFarlane JM. Personal communication, 13.9.95
Miss McFarlane quotes having seen an article in the Ottowa Citizen, Monday July
17th !995, on the use of maggots in medicine. She also states: "as a
junior nurse in 1948, at the General Infirmary at Leeds, I witnessed this form
of treatment. The patient had a suppurating wound of the breast - she had
sustained a radical mastectomy. The wound was debrided and cleansed, and
as a very junior nurse I was quite impressed". See also my letter to
her of 13.9.95.
®Macias EG, Graham AJ, Green M, Pierce
AW. Cutaneous myiasis in South
Texas. N Engl J Med 1973;289:1239
12.4.95 8 refs.
®McFarlane JM. Personal communication, August 1995.
She refers to an article in the Ottowa Citizen, Monday July 17, 1995, regarding
the use of maggots in medicine. ”As a junior nurse in 1948, at the
General Infirmary at Leeds I witnessed this form of treatment. The
patient had a suppurating wound of L. breast - she had sustained a radical
mastectomy. The wound was debrided and cleaned. As a junior nurse I
was quite impressed”. See the ensuing correspondence.
®McKeever DC. Maggots in treatment of osteomyelitis - a
simple inexpensive method. JBJS 1933;15:85-93
8 refs
®McLellan NW. The maggot treatment of osteomyelitis.
Can Med Assoc J 1932;27:256-260
Maggots Dentists. Time Magazine July 3,
1933:26
®Maggot medicine Sunday Times 16.1.2000 "Doctors
at Manchester Royal Infirmary saved David Eisner’s leg by putting 10 live
maggots inside a wound to clean up the infection"
®Maldwyn Davies W, Hobson RP. Sheep
blow-fly investigations I. The relationship of humidity to blow-fly
attack. Ann appl Biol 1935;22:279-293
®Malgaigne JF. Treatise of Fractures (and Luxations),
under the heading of "Treatment of Complicated
Fractures". Paris 1847, vol.i, p.271, line 22,
concerning maggots.
5.4.95 Photocopied in the Bibliotheque Nationale (catalogue No:
8o.Td80.13), Paris. No refs.
®Margolis DJ, Lewis VL. A Literature Assessment of the Use of
Miscellaneous Topical Agents, Growth Factore, and Skin Equivalents for the
Treatment of Pressure Ulcers. Dermatologic Surgery
1995;12:145-148
A paper I received at the EWMA Harrogate conference 16-19 Nov.98. 47
refs.
®Maseritz IH. Digestion of Bone by Larvae of Phormia regina.
Arch Surg 1934;28:589-607
53 refs.
®Matthews J. Personal communication, 15.3.95
In the early 1900s, Mrs. Matthew’s grandfather, who was a furrier, went to
China, to be in care of the horses at the Shanghai Horse Bazaar Racecourse. Her
father, then ten years old, had a bad fall from a horse, injuring his knee. "The
knee was so damaged, the English Doctor thought the leg would have to be
amputated, but when a Chinese surgeon was consulted, he said that he could save
the leg with maggots and sun rays. This was carried out ... with the knee
uncovered but covered with maggots. Although his leg was saved, it
remained rigid. All the same, my father was always agile and had very
little trouble or scars on the “stiff” leg... He lived to ninety three.".
®Messer FC, McClellan RH. Surgical maggots. A
study of their functions in wound healing. J Lab Clin Med
1935;20:1219-1226
®Mihill C. Doctors hail return of maggot cures.
Guardian. Home News page 7, 4th Dec. 1996. Describes Mr. Ken
Graham”s work, Dundee Royal Infirmary.
®Moosleitners P. Maden heilen Wunden in zwei Tagen. P.M. is Peter
Moosleitners interessantes Magazin. 24th Nov. 1995. p.30.
30.1.01 This is, I think, the first article to appear in German, in a
popular magazine, on the subject of Larva Therapy. I was interviewed for
this article, but I do not recall the name of the interviewer. I have no
English translation yet.
®Morgan D. Myiasis: The Rise and Fall of Maggot Therapy. Journal of
Tissue Viability 1995(No2):43-51.
27.9.95 Reprint sent me by Dr. Stephen Thomas. Good summary article.
61 refs, not yet studied.
Author - David Morgan: Director of Pharmaceutical Public Health, Clwyd Health
Authority.
®Mulder JB. The Medical Marvels of Maggots. Journal of the
American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) 1989;195:1497-1499
®Mumcuoglu KY, Ingber A, Gilead L, Stessmann R, Friedmann R, Schulman H,
Bichucher H, Ioffe-Uspensky I, Miller J, Galun R, Raz I. Maggot
Therapy for the Treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulcers. Diabetes Care
1998 (Nov);21(1):2030-2031
A paper published in the Letters section of the Journal.. A good description of
the work in Israel, focussing on 22 patients with diabetes (27 foot ulcers).
11 refs.
®Mumcuoglu KY, Ingber A, Gilead L, Stessmann J, Friedmann R, Schulman H,
Bichucher H, Ioffe-Uspensky I, Miller J, Galun R, Raz I. Maggot
therapy for the treatment of intractable wounds. International Journal of
Dermatology 1999;38:623-627
Describe 25 patients, with 43 wounds, mostly lower limb chronic ulcers.
Complete or significant debridement in 95% of patients. 25 refs.
®Mumcuoglu KY, Miller J, Mumcuoglu M, Friger M, Tarshis M. Destruction of
Bacteria in the Digestive Tract of the Maggot of Lucilia sericata (Diptera:
Calliforidae). Journal of Medical Entomology 2001;38(2):161-166.
A study of the fate of labelled e coli in the maggot alimentary tract. 26
refs.
®Mumcuoglu KY. Clinical applications for Maggots in Wound Care. Am
J clin Dermatol 2001;2(4):219-227
Review article. 56 refs.
®Murdoch FF, Smart TL. A method of producing sterile blowfly
larvae for surgical use. US Naval Med Bull 1931;29:406-417
28.9.94. Copied RSM library . (Note: Smart is “Pharmacist’s
Mate, First Class, United States Navy”!)
®Murray I. Leeches rediscover the taste for life in hospital.
The Times August 5. 1998 p.6 Refers to “ a study published
today in Student BMJ” Describes the Biopharm lab, breeding 30,000 leeches
a year, at £10.25 each ...
®Murray I. Maggots clean up in wound care. The Times
Friday March 19th 1999, p. 13. Refers to the BMJ
publication of our letter; see Thomas et al, March 20 1999, p. 807
®Myers J, Czaja LM. The maggot treatment of
osteomyelitis. Illinois Med J 1931;60:124-133
®O”Brian P. The Yellow Admiral ”One of the delights of
modern literature” - James Teacher, Spectator. Harper Collins. pages
97-98. "..how do you introduce your larvae into the wound? ...
Larrey began by simply leaving it open, having first ensured the presence
of blow-flies by hanging decayed meat in the ward:" ... "..I have
known gangrenous legs that any surgeon would have amputated without a second
thought become perfectly clean and perfectly whole after little more than a
month"...
This is a novel, but bespeaks the author having access to source material not
readily available otherwise. The surgeon’s name was “Stephen Sherman”!
®O”Connor G. Personal communication, 19.7.95
This is a letter to Dr. David Rogers, Department of Entomology, Oxford
University, who passed it on to me. “My wife was a patient at the University of
Michigan in Ann Arbor, in 1934. At that time a fellow patient was being
treated with maggots for osteomyelitis”. Mr O”Connor had heard of Dr.
Rogers” “research using maggots for the treatment of infections”, by reading an
item in the “local paper in Lancing, Michigan, USA.”
®Oommen T. Larva therapy. Journal of the Royal Society of
Medicine 2000;93:394
This is a letter in response to the paper by Courtenay et al (JRSM Feb.
2000;93(2):72-74). In particular, the role of free radicals is addressed,
as also the “acceleration in collagen formation”.
Orr HW. A new era in the treatment of osteomyelitis and other
infections. Second Detroit Orthopaedic Lecture, Wayne County
Medical Society, Detroit. St. Paul, Minn, Bruce
Publishing Co. 1930
®Otranto D. The immunology of myiasis: parasite survival and host defense
strategies. Trends in Parasitology. April 2001;17 (4):176-182
2.11.01 This paper was given to me by Martin Hall. It has 56
references, and a string of Web Sites on the Plasmodium life cycle.
Packard JF 1859. Translation of Malgaigne”s
"Treatise on Fractures". Philadelphia,
J.B.Lippincott Company. p.221 (bottom)
®Pare, Ambroise. Les oevres d”Ambroise Pare 1579;2
Les oevres d”Ambroise Pare 1652;11 A.Lyon; Pierre Rigaud.
Translation from the Latin by Theodore Johnson 1678.
London,Clark; X:249: XI:277. Selections from the Works of
Ambroise Pare. By Singer 1924;218
5.4.95, 16.15 hours. Photocopied in the Bibliotheque Nationale de Paris.
See also ®Brumpt, 1933 for further details
®Patrick S. Personal communication, 11.3.95
"When I was nursing at Barts we used them (about six per patient) in the
plastic unit at Hill End,...under the plasters of burn patients, ...and on
osteomyelitis patients when Mr. Coltart and Mr. Jackson Burrows were the
consultants." Also, see my personal correspondence with Mrs. Patrick.
®Pavillard ER, Wright EA. An Antibiotic from Maggots.
Nature 1957;180:916-917
®Pechter EA, Sherman RA. Maggot therapy: the
surgical metamorphosis. Plast Reconstr Surg
1983;72(4):567-570
A good general summary of the History of maggots in wounds, their mechanism of
action, life cycle, associated diseases, and other applications.
They conclude: “This review should not be considered an epitaph, however,
for the continuing metamorphosis of medical progress may once again result in a
role for maggot therapy in the treatment of wounds.”
Pendola S, Greenberg B. Substrate-specific analysis of proteolytic
enzymes in the larval midgut of Calliphora vicina. Annals of the
Entomological Society of America 1975;68:341-345
11.10.94 Reprint sent me by Professor Greenberg. 16 refs, not yet
studied. c.f. the other Greenberg refs.
®Phipps Claire. The flesh eaters. The Guardian. Tuesday August 1st
2000. p,10-11
“The arrival of antibiotics in the 20th century ensured that maggots fell out
of favour with doctors. But today “biosurgery” is making comeback,
says Claire Phipps”.
This article refers to the recent publication from West Cumberland Hospital, by
Mike Walker and Mrs. Anne Walker, on the cost effectiveness of Larva Therapy.
See also: Amelia Hill, with a similar article in the Guardian,
Sun 23rd July
®Powell J. Personal communication, 22.3.95.
Miss Powell is a retired Nursing Officer, who worked in the Chase Farm Hospital
in 1944, treating soldiers with war wounds. The maggots were “plump and
white”, the wounds “clean and pink”, and there was “very little unpleasant
smell”.
®Prete PE. Growth effects of Phaenicia sericata larval
extracts on fibroblasts: mechanism for wound healing by maggot therapy.
Life Sciences 1997;60(No 8):505-510
28.1.98 18 refs.
®Price R. Personal communication, 28.7.95
Mr. Raymond Price was in the Royal Army Vet.Corps attached to the Gurkha Rifles
in Malayia, in 1949-50. He was training dogs for military purposes, and
often “suffered quite severe bites”. Two of these became infested with
fly larvae. The Gurkhas insisted they should be left in, and “both wounds
healed quite quickly without infection or serious scarring”.
®Raven G. Time for some grub? 1997.
Thjs was a report on my presentation, entitled: "Biotherapy - or the
use of maggots and other living things in medicine" (or some such),
at the BAFO Autumn Meeting, 7-9 November 1997, published in the BAFO
Spring Newsletter.
®Rayman A., Stansfield G, Woolard T, Mackie A, Rayman G.
Use of larvae in the treatment of the diabetic necrotic foot.
The Diabetic Foot 1998;1(1):7-13
17.11.98 I met Dr. and Mrs Rayman at the EWMSA conference in Harrogate.
15/3/99 Copy of this paper sent to me by Anne Rayman. 15 refs.
®Reames MK, Christensen C, Luce EA.
The Use of Maggots in Wound Debridement. Annals of
Plastic Surgery 1988;21(4):388-391
The maggots were in a wound of a patient with a recurrent squamous cell carcinoma.
He came in with the maggots in the wound. It was clean, with
healthy granulation base and no necrotic tissue. 56 maggots were removed.
They were allowed to mature, and were identified as Phormia regina,
black blowfly.
®Riley HD. Surgical Maggots. (Letters to the Editor) South
Med. J. 1987;80(10):1333.
1.3.95. Reprint given to me by Ronald Sherman, Jan.”95. 2 refs.
®Road A. Welcome Back, Little Bloodsucker. Readers Digest.
March 1995
This article, by freelance journalist Alan Road, is on the comeback of leeches
into modern surgical practice, particularly Plastic surgery. "The
leech is a veritable living pharmacy"
®Robinson W, Norwood VH. The role of surgical maggots
in the disinfection of osteomyelitis and other infected wounds. JBJS
1933;15:409-412
N.B. I have 10 papers by this author
Robinson W. The use of blowfly larvae in the treatment of
infected wounds. Ann Entom Soc Am
1933;26:270
®Robinson W. Suggestions to facilitate the use of surgical
maggots in suppurative infections. Am J Surg. 1934;25:525-529
28.9.94. Copied RSM library. 11 refs.
®Robinson W. Improved methods in the culture of sterile maggots for
surgical use. J Lab Clin Med 1934;20:77-85
28.9.94. Copied in RSM library. 9 refs.
®Robinson W, Norwood VH. Destruction of pyogenic bacteria in
the alimentary tract of surgical maggots implanted in infected wounds. J
Lab Clin Med 1934;19:581
28.9.94 copied at the RSM library. 19 refs.
®Robinson W. Stimulation of healing in non-healing wounds by
allantoin occurring in maggot secretions and of wide biological distribution.
JBJS 1935;17:267-271
®Robinson W. Progress in maggot therapy in the United States and
Canada in the treatment of suppurative diseases. Am J Surg
1935;29:67-71
Has a good bibliography.
Robinson W. The healing properties of allantoin and urea
discovered through the use of maggots in human wounds. Ann
Rep Smithsonian Institution 1937; Washington DC, US
Government Printing Office 1938:451-460
®Robinson W, Baker FC. The enzyme urease and
occurrence of ammonia in maggot infected wounds. J Parasitol
Apr. 1939;25:149-155
Robinson W. Ammonium bicarbonate secreted by surgical maggots
stimulates healing in purulent wounds. Am J Surg Jan
1940;47:111-115
®Rogers L. Grubby Business. Readers Digest, July 1995:19
28.6.95. Copy Readers Digest, sent to me by the Editor-in-chief, Russell
Twisk. Refers to the article in the Sunday Times, by Lois Rogers.
Describes my patient, treated at Wycombe Hospital, and developments at
the Churchill Hospital, Oxford.
®Root-Bernstein, Robert, and Michele. Honey, Mud, Maggots, and other
Medical Marvels. The Science Behind Folk Remedies and Old Wives Tales.
1997 Macmillan
Purchased 23/7/99; Dr. Sherman and I are referred to, on pp. 28-29.
The Chapter (2) on maggots has 9 refs. There are no illustrations.
®Rowbotham TJ. Surgical maggots. J Hosp Infection
1995;29:311-312
1.7.95 Photocopy sent to me by Dr. Bridget Atkins, John Radcliffe
Hospital, Oxford. This is in “Letters to the Editor”, and refers to an earlier
article in this Journal, see Daniel et al 1994, above. 6
refs.
®Ryan TJ. Wound healing in the developing world. Dermatologic
clinics 1993;11 No4:791-800
16.1.96 19 refs, not yet studied (See, for instance, Bewes PC, 1976.)
®Ryan TJ. Healthy Skin for All. May 1994.
Document prepared for the International League of Dermatological Societies,
ratified by the International Committee of Dermatology in Sydney,
Australia, May 1994
6 Refs.
®Ryan TJ. Compounding Facility for Dermatologic Topical
Medications: a Prototype for Rural Areas of Developing Countries
International Journal of Dermatology 1996;35(1):63-64
Describes the lab created from a disused container. 2 refs.
(This could be a prototype for similar labs in the Tropics for Larva Therapy).
®Ryan TJ. The benefit of maggot debridement in the 1990s. In: Scars
and Stripes. The Newsletter of the Wound Healing Society. Autumn
1997 Vol.7, No1. pp.11-12
®St.John Boswell R. Personal communication, 25.7.95
He refers to a documentary on a true story of a young woman doctor
working in America in the 1920”s. She was in a remote forest
region, and had a child aged 5-10 years with an “abscess in the ear”. A
couple of maggots were placed in the ear, and blocked in with something that
they would “eventually eat through”. The end result was that “the child
got better and the hearing was not affected”.
®Serralta V, Harrison-Balestra C, Cazzaniga AL, Davis SC, Mertz PM.
Lifestyles of bacteria in wounds: presence of biofilms? Wound
repair and regeneration. March-April 2001;9(2):167
14 partial thickness wounds made in two pigs, challenged with Pseudomonas
aeruginosa. Congo red stains biofilm. “This preliminary work has
demonstrated that bacterial biofilms do form in wounds”. This paper was
presented at the 11th Annual Meeting and Educational Symposium of the Wound
Healing Society, held in Alberquerwue, New Mexico 16 - 18 May 2001.
No refs
This is the first paper I have seen which specifically looks for biofilm in
wounds, albeit still only experimentally, in pigs.
®Sherman RA . Maggot therapy for venous stasis ulcers. The
cutting edge
Reprint faxed to me from the Dermatology Dept, Churchill Hosp, 21.3.96. It
describes one of the patients whose photos Dr. Sherman sent me as
transparencies.
5.3.99 Fax printout now so faded it is virtually unreadable. I
could however obtain further details direct from Dr. Sherman.
Sherman RA . (Medical Service, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Long
Beach, USA.) What physicians should know about Africanized honeybees.
[Review] Western Journal of Medicine. Dec. 1995;163(6):541-6,
75 refs
®Sherman RA, Pechter EA. Maggot therapy: a review of
the therapeutic applications of fly larvae in human medicine, especially for
treating osteomyelitis. Medical and Veterinary Entomology
1988;2:225-230
“the larvae of some Diptera ... have been employed for maggot therapy,
i.e. to help clean lesions antiseptically, especially for the
treatment of chronic osteomyelitis. This mode of treatment remains
appropriate for cases where antibiotics are ineffective and surgery
impracticable”. A reprint of this paper was first sent to me by Dr. Sherman in
October 1988 (see correspondence).
48 refs.
Sherman RA, Wyle F, Vulpe M, Wishnow R, Iturrino J, Watson M, Martin G.
Maggot debridement therapy for treating pressure sores. J Am
Paraplegia Soc 1990;14:200
Quoted by ®Sherman & Levsen (unpublished - 1995)
®Sherman RA, Wyle F, Vulpe M, Levson
L, Castillo L. The Utility of Maggot Therapy for
Treating Pressure sores. J. of the American Paraplegic Soc.
1993;16:269
They describe the treatment of 70 chronic wounds with MT, with better results
than “conventional therapy”.
®Sherman RA, Wyle F, Vulpe M, Levsen L, Castillo L. The utility of maggot
therapy for treating chronic wounds. Am J Trop Med & Hyg.
1993;49 Suppl.3:266
No refs.
®Sherman RA, Luu J, Goldstein M, Wyle
FA, Thrupp L. Effects of seven antibiotics on the
growth and development of Phaenicia sericata
(Meigen)(Diptera:Calliphoridae).
A paper read at the Annual Meeting of the ESA, Dec.14 1993 -
paper No. DSP0697. See Sherman, Wyle and Thrupp, 1995, on the same
subject, below.
®Sherman RA, Levson L. A new pressure ulcer dressing for use with
maggot therapy.
1.3.95 Submitted for publication, 1994. 16 refs.
®Sherman RA, Tran J M-T. A simple, sterile food source for
rearing Lucilia sericata (Diptera: Calliphoridae) larvae.
1.3.95. Submitted for publication in Med. Vet. Entom, 1994. 38
refs.
®Sherman RA. Low cost, low maintenance rearing of Phaenicia
sericata (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in hospitals or schools.
1.3.95. Manuscript given to me by Ron Sherman in January. 21 refs.
®Sherman RA, Wyle F, Vulpe M. Maggot
therapy for treating pressure ulcers in spinal cord injury patients.
Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine. 1995;18(2):71-74.
1.6.95 Sent to me by Mr Roger Bodley, Consultant Radiologist and Clinical
Tutor, Stoke Mandeville Hospital. 18 refs, not yet fully studied.
Only 8 patients studied, but results are good; wound contraction rates
are faster than conventional treatment methods, with no complications.
19/3/99 This was a letter which we wrote to the BMJ, in response to a
number of articles in the BMJ of September 5 1998, and in particular an
editorial by Wise et al on antimicrobial resistance. There was a press
release today, which generated articles in The Times, The Telegraph and the
Western Mail.
®Sherman RA, Wyle FA, Thrupp L. Effects of seven
antibiotics on the growth and development of Phaenicia sericata (Diptera:
Calliforidae) larvae. 1995; 32(5):646-649.
24.10.95. 19 refs, not yet studied. Summary: these antibiotics had no
adverse effects, even in high concentration, apart from Gentamycin in high
concentration.
®Sherman RA, Wyle FA Low cost, low
maintenance rearing of maggots in hospital, clinics and schools.
American Journal of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene. Jan.
1996;54(1):38-41
4.3.99 I only have the abstract obtained on Medline library search.
They describe their “hospital-based insectary”, with “simple,
low-cost unobtrusive strategies for rearing blow flies”..
®Sherman RA. Guidelines for Patient Selection. 3rd June 1996
Document prepared by Dr. Sherman for the International Biotherapy
Society (IBS). 15 refs.
Sherman RA, Tran J, Sullivan R. Maggot therapy for treating venous stasis
ulcers. Arch Dermatol. 1966;132:254-256
23.6.96 Ref. given in a letter from Dr. Sherman of May 13 1966, giving
guidelines for MDT.
®Sherman R, Hall M, Thomas S. Medicinal Maggots: An
Ancient Remedy for some Modern Afflictions. Annual Review of Entomology.
(In Press.]
11/3/99 This is a chapter in this Annual Review. The draft text was
sent to me by Dr. Sherman. on 24/2/99
®Sherman RA. Maggot Debridement Therapy for treating non-healing
wounds. Wound Repair and Regeneration. July - August 2000;8(4):327
Abstract of a paper read by Dr. Sherman at the Tenth Annual Meeting of the
Wound Healing Society, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, June 4-6, 2000.
This abstract was initially given to me by Dr. George Cherry, on 21st
June 2000.
®Sherman RA. Maggot Therapy - The Last Five Years. European
Tissue repair Bulletin 2000;7(3):97-98.
A good summary article. 16 refs.
®Silcock S. Marvel of Maggots. New Scientist, 3 June 1995:50
27.6.95 Letter in reply to an earlier article, in the New Scientist, of
13.5.95. Refers to an earlier article in New Scientist, in 1987 (Science,
6 August), and refers to the ETRS meeting in Oxford in January 1995, addressed
by Dr. Ronald Sherman. First published use of the term
"bio-surgery". See also ®Backman B. 1995, above.
®Simmons SW. Sterilisation of blowfly eggs in the culture of
surgical maggots for use in the treatment of pyogenic infections.
Am J Surg July 1934;25:140-147
18 refs.
Simmons SW. Stimulation of healing in nonhealing wounds by
allantoin occurring in maggot secretions and of wide biological distribution.
JBJS Apr 1935;17:267-271
®Simmons SW. A bactericidal principle in excretions of
surgical maggots which destroys important etiological agents of pyogenic
infections. J Bacteriol 1935;30:253-267
Simmons SW. The bactericidal properties of excretions of the maggot
of Lucilia
sericata. Bull Entomol Res 1935;26:559
Simmons SW. The Culture of Fly Larvae for use in Maggot
Therapy. Ph.D Thesis. Iowa 1938 Iowa State
College.
®Slocum MA, McClellan RH, Messer FC.
Investigation into the modes of action of blow fly maggots in the
treatment of chronic osteomyelitis Penn Med J May
1933;36:570-573
10.8.94. No refs.
®Stewart MA. A new treatment of osteomyelitis. Surg
Gynecol Obstet Feb 1934;58:155-165
Quoted in Bunkis et al (1985): ”Stewart defined the ideal lesion
to treat with maggot therapy: a shallow wound with a relatively large amount of
necrotic tissue”.
®Stewart MA. The role of Lucilia sericata
Meig. larvae in osteomyelitis wounds. Ann Trop
Med 1934;28:445-460
®Stoddard SR, Sherman RM, Mason BE, Pelsang DJ. Maggot Debridement
Therapy. An Alternative Treament of Nonhealing Ulcers.
Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association April
1995;85(4):218-221.
11 refs.
Description of a patient with bilat. chronic ulcers under the first metatarsal
heads. One foot treated conventionally, the other with larvae. This
healed slowly while the other remained unhealed.
®Surgical Maggots-Lederle. JAMA 1932;98:401
Note on the marketing of maggots by Lederle for use in chronic osteomyelitis
and other suppurative infections
®Tantawi TI, Greenberg B. The effect of killing and preservative
solutions on estimates of maggot age in forensic cases. Journal of
Forensic Sciences JFSCA 1993(May);38(3):702-707
Abstract: Length of the oldest maggots recovered from a body often provide an
accurate estimate of the time since death. Different preservatives shrink the
maggots at different rates.
®Teich S, Myers RAM. Maggot therapy for severe
skin infections. Southern Med J 1986;79:1153-1155
They treated two patients, with good result, though one died for other reasons.
They stress that repeated surgical debridement leads to marked blood loss
(2-5 units per debridement), whereas maggot therapy “removes necrotic tissue
with minimal blood loss”. They conclude: “benefit from the reduced
cost”.
The Times. Friday August 25th 2000, page 5 Canine cunning helps
drugs fight.
The author is “A Correspondent”. This is a description of a dog with a
“nose for money”. Bodie, the dog, “recognises All major currencies.
Excerpt cut out of The Times, in “Sniffer Dog” follder.
Thomas S, Jones M, Shutler S, Andrews A. Making friends with maggots.
Nursing Times 1996;92:76-82
4/10/99 Quoted in Dr. Mumcuoglu’s paper in Int. J of Dermatol.
1999;38:623-627
®Thomas S, Jones M, Shutler S, Jones S Using larvae in modern
wound management. Journal of Wound Care (Special Supplement)
Feb.1996;5(2):60-69
14 refs.
®Thomas S. The First World Conference on Biosurgery
The Journal of alternative and complementary medicine.
1996;2(4):529
no refs.
®Thomas S, Jones M, Andrews A The use of fly larvae in
the treatment of wounds. Nursing Standard. 1997;12(12):54-59
29 refs
®Thomas S. A wriggling remedy. Chemistry & Industry
7 Sept. 1998;17:680-683
5.9.98 A general article on Larva Therapy, with mention of the IBS, and
refs to the study of the larval enzymes.
28 refs.
®Thomas S, Andrews A, Jones M. The use of larval therapy in wound
management. An update and detailed guide on the use of sterile larvae in
chronic or infected wounds. Journal of Wound Care Nov. 1998;7(10):521-524
27 refs. good well illustrated central section on application of larvae
to a wound, and dressing techniques.
®Thomas S, Andrews A, Jones M, Church J. Maggots are useful
in treating infected or necrotic wounds. BMJ 1999;318:807-808
®Topham J. Sugar for wounds. Journal of Tissue Viability 2000;10(3):86-89
“Suger ... is a non-toxic treatment for a variety of wounds”.
29.8.00 Ref. sent to me by Professor Terence Ryan. 53 refs
Townsend CHT. Manual of Myiology. Sao Paulo, Brazil:
Charles Townsend and Filhos 1934
Truelove A. How leeches and maggots head our wounds by means of
healthy eating. Oxeye March 1996 pp. 8-9
"maggots are impeccable microsurgeons.."
®deV,Dr.E. Plaies chroniques infectées ou nécrosées:
la biochirurgie par des adticots. Le Quotidien du Médecin. No.
6460 du 22/03/99, page 15
This is a commentary on the letter in the BMJ (Thomas S, Andrews A, Jones M,
Church J. Maggots are useful in treating infected or necrotic
wounds. BMJ 1999;318:807-808) in this French Medical
Journal. No refs.
®Valois-Bachand F. Personal Communication August 2001.
Age 8, she was hospitalised in the Sainte-Justine paediatric Hospital,
Montreal, with acute osteomyelitis of the left femur. After 3-4 months of
“conventional” treatment (pre-antibiotics) she was treated with “worms” Š
“I am convinced this treatment saved my leg”.
See also ref. Gordon S. above .
®Vistnes LM, Lee R, Ksander GA. Proteolytic
activity of blowfly larvae secretions in experimental burns. Surgery
Nov 1981;90:835-841.
The only study I know of so far (16th July 1994) where the effects of
maggots have been studied in experimental wounds.
Wainwright M. Maggot therapy - a backwater
in the fight against bacterial infection. Pharmacy in History
1988;30:36-48
1.7.95. This paper is quoted in ®Rowbotham TJ 1995, as Pharmacy in
History 1988;30:19-26, not 36-48.
®Wainwright M. Biological control of microbial infections and
cancer in humans:historical use to future potential. Biocontrol Science
and Technology 1994;4:123-131
15.2.95 Reprint given to me by Martin Hall. 54 refs.
®Waldvogel FA, Vasey H. Osteomyelitis: The
Past Decade. New
Eng J Med 1980;303:360-370
Walker M. 10.3.99 Personal communication.
Mike Walker has done a pilot study, twelve patients, on the cost effectiveness
of Larva Therapy. He is currently writing up the results, but tells me
that in the LT group costs were reduced by 50%...
®Wall R, French NP, Morgan KL. Sheep blowfly population control: development
of a simulation model and analysis of management strategies. Journal of
Applied Ecology 1993;30:743-751
4.11.94 Reprint given to me by Dr. Richard Wall (senior author). Concludes that
"early -season, prophylactic treatment (of sheep) "will give season
long reductions in the fly population", and therefore blow fly strike, and
minimum insecticide use.
®Wallace AS. Medicine as it used to be. Salisbury Medical Bulletin.
Jan 1996: 738-739
Describes an episode, as a house surgeon, when a patient was dying of an
infected bomb fragment wound of the thigh. He and the surgical registrar
raided the hospital kitchens, found some maggots, and placed them in the wound.
Four days later they “picked out the collection of fat comatose maggots
about to pupate”, leaving “a large wound clear of pus and lined with pink
healthy granulation tissue”.
Also: ®Personal communication, to Mr. Geoff Watts, Producer of Medicine Now,
BBC Radio 4, following the programme of 13th February 1996, on Larva Therapy.
®Walterspiel JN, Schad GA, Buchanan GR.
Direct transfer of adult hookworms (Ankylostoma
duodenale) from dog to child for therapeutic purposes. J
Parasitol 1984;70:217-219
®Warwick, Christopher. ”I am so tired of being in pain”. The Mail on
Sunday. Jan 7.2001. p.25
This is an article for “The Mail” by Christopher Warwick, the author of a
biography on Princess Margaret entitled ”Princes Margaret, A Life of
Contrasts”, published by Andre Deutsch. The relevant quote from “The
Mail” is: ”Sitting up in her canopied bed at Kensington Palace, a cradle
over her feet on which maggots had been applied as an age old remedy, the
Princess received her friends”.
®Waters J. The benefits of larval therapy in wound care. Nursing
Times Jan. 14 1998;94(2):62-63
The illustrations are good but were reversed in printing - see the dates on the
photos!
®Watkins A. It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it. The
Western Mail ?Friday 19/3/99
Subtitle: Health: It’s enough to make you squirm, but maggots play vital role
in healing infected wounds. Has a photo of Andrea, and describes an
interview with her.
®Wayman J, Nirojogi V, Walker A, Sowinski A, Walker MA. The cost
effectiveness of larval therapy in venous ulcers. Journal of Tissue
Viability 2000;10(3):91-94.
“This study confirms both the clinical efficacy and cost effectiveness of
larval therapy in the treatment of sloughy venous ulcers”.
29.8.00 Ref. sent to me by Professor Terence Ryan. 5 refs.
®Weil GC, Nettrour S, Rohm R. Treatment of acute haematogenous
osteomyelitis with especial reference to the use of maggots. Pennsylvania
Med J. 1931;34:313-316
No refs.
®Weil GC, Simon RJ, Sweadner WR. A
biological, bacteriological, and clinical study of larval or maggot therapy in
the treatment of acute and chronic pyogenic infections. Am J Surg
1933;19:36-48
p. 47 They describe the action of larvae in open tumours, reducing
infection and tumour mass.
®Wilcox NFM. Personal communication, 15.2.96
Letter written to Mr. Geoff Watts, Producer of Medicine Now, BBC Radio 4,
programme transmitted on 13th Feb.1996. Miss Wilcox (SRN) is now 85 years
of age. ”Nursing before antibiotics, as a staff nurse, I saw wounds where
continuous care was not possible; war conditions. These included many compound
fractures where suppuration penetrated the plaster casts - the odour
indescribable. When the wounds were exposed it was apparent that these
worms were a great aid to cleansing and promoting healing tissue. This
technique was particularly adopted for chronic osteomyelitis and other chronic
infections, with astounding results. The patients often found this
difficult to accept and the odour presented a problem”.
®Wilson EH, Doan CA, Miller DF. The
Baer maggot treatment of osteomyelitis. Preliminary report of twenty-six
cases. JAMA 1932;98:1149-1152
®Wilson VL. Personal communication, 26.7.95
“Fly eggs were implanted on infected wounds, which were then enclosed with a
light covering of P.O.P. My two abiding memories are how clean the tissues
appeared after the maggots were cleared, and the appalling stench on the
ward.”(!) This was apparently during World War 2.
®Wolff H, Hansson C. Larvae Therapy in a patient with leg ulcers
and MRSA (Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus). Wound
Repair and Regeneration. Sept-October 1998;6(5):A484
They describe a patient in whom an ulcer initially growing MRSA was cleared of
it following larva therapy. They presented this work with a poster at the
ETRS meeting in Copenhagen 27-30 May 1998.
®Wolff H, Hansson C. Larval Therapy for a Leg Ulcer with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus. Acta Derm Venereol 1999;79:320-321
13/9/99 12 refs. Copy received from Dr. Hélène Wolff.
This is the same patient described in the earlier paper in Wound Repair
and Regenerationabove).
®Wood SA. Personal communication, 4.8.95
Describes two patients: “a child with a severe laceration of leg...in hospital
for over a month”. The wound became “ massively infested with
“maggots”... but they vanished overnight. The other patient had a
varicose ulcer, with “maggots” which dropped out... when the dressing was
undone”.
®Xiaobing F, Huiming T, Chihyong S, Yinqui L. Special spectacles
facilitating debridement: a report of their use in 300 cases. Injury:The
British Journal of Accident Surgery 1992;23:
21.10.94 Reprint given to me by Prof. Terence Ryan. The
authors use glasses filtering light of a certain wavelength to allow the
surgeon to more readily distinguish between viable and non-viable tissue. This
would be a most useful adjunct for studies where we need to assess clinically
the demarcation line, and then see how larvae respond to this line.
Zacharias John Forney (Obituary) JAMA 1904;43:748
®Zachmann JC. Inaugural Dissertation. Title:
Vermicularis in Vulnere cum Ossis Fractura. Dissertationis
inauguralis. Chirurgico - Medicinae. Ad D XII Septembr.
Anni MDCCIV Basileae 1704
5.4.95 Found in the Bibliotheque Nationale de Paris, in a Tome:
THESES de MEDICINE ETRANGER 44. 1-2. This is a leather bound
volume, containing varied documents. After page 39, is the thesis by
JOHANNES CONRADUS ZACHMANN, Durlaco-Badensis. This is 28
pages, all in Latin, measuring about 7 inches by 5 inches. It was printed
in Basle.
®Zachmann JC. N.B. I obtained more details on Zachmann in the
Bibliotheque de l”Academie Nationale de Medicine in Paris, in a Catalogue
General de la Bibliotheque Nationale, Tome CCXXIX.
I also obtained some details, from the Bibliotheque Interuniversitaire de
Paris, on where other copies of this document might be found. See the attached
note on this reprint.
®Zambellas R. Personal communication, Jan.1995.
"when I worked in the children’s wards in Groote Scheur Hospital in Cape
Town, in about 1950 ... the burns were covered in dressings and crepe bandages
... flies were attracted to the smell ... and laid eggs ... so we had maggots
on the wounds. We left them a short while to eat the sloughed tissue, but
once it started to hurt we had to clear them, to protect the granulating
tissue. ...They also caused horrible itching. We put the patients into a
saline bath and soaked off the dressings .. the maggots floated.." See
also my correspondence with Mrs. Zambellas.
®Ziffren SE, Heist HE, May SC, Womack
NA. The secretion of collagenases by maggots and its
implication. Ann Surg 1953;138:932-934
Zumpt F. Myiasis in Man and Animals in the Old World.
London: Butterworths 1965
Published material I have obtained without known, or specific, authorship:
®Maggots. photocopy of page 509 in the Index Catalogue of the Library of the
Surgeon-General”s Office, United States Army. Vol VIII. Legier-Medecine
(Naval) Washington Government Printing Office 1887.
6.4.95. Found in: la Bibliotheque de l”Academie Nationale de Medecine.
Contains a good list of references pre-1887.
Updated, 6th November 2001