YOU would not associate them with
cleanliness or treatment but maggots are playing an important role at one of
Swansea's major hospitals.
Due to the amount of infections now
becoming resistant to antibiotics, maggots are being increasingly used to treat
wounds at Morriston Hospital.
The treatment involves placing a
pouch filled with maggots over a wound, wrapping it in protective gauze and
bandaging the area, allowing the little creatures to clean the wound by eating
away all the damaged tissue.
Rosalyn Thomas, deputy head of
Podiatry at Morriston Hospital, who uses maggots to treat wounds, said:
"Patients are always shocked when I ask them to consider maggot therapy
instead of surgery, but they soon come round to the idea.
"These tiny blind legless
creatures eat nothing but the dead flesh from around the wound and leave the
healthy flesh alone."
Ms Thomas added the use of maggots
was also a cost-effective way to treat wounds.
She sad: "This is a really
cheap, cost effective way to treat patients.
"Before this treatment we would
take the patient into surgery and cut away the dead flesh, but to ensure we had
all the infected area, we may cut away some healthy flesh too.
"The maggots are very precise
and only eat away the dead tissue.
"With surgery patients would
stay in hospital to recover, but with maggot therapy they are in and out within
the hour, patients can go home and carry on as normal."
After the initial treatment is
carried out patients return to the hospital a few days later and have the
maggot pouch removed.
The wound is then cleaned and
redressed before being left to heal naturally.
One of the patients currently being
treated with the maggot therapy at the hospital also gave their seal of
approval.
They said: "It's strange when
they are first placed on the wound, you can feel some sensation, but not much.
"I think it's marvellous that I
don't have to have surgery.
"The maggots are little miracle
workers."
The treatment has been used at
Morriston Hospital for the past 10 years.
Previously, maggots had been used in
medical treatment for centuries before falling out of fashion thanks to the
advent of antibiotics.
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call the Foot, Ankle & Lower Leg Center
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between Monday – Friday and we would be happy to set up an appointment for
you. Please visit our website @ www.FallCenter.com. The Foot, Ankle & Lower
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Dr.
Anthony Ricciardi at the Foot, Ankle &
Lower Leg Center has completed training in endoscopic/minimally invasive
surgery for chronic heel pain and nerve pain, foot and ankle joint replacement
for restoring pain free motion, arthroscopic surgery, bunion surgery, fracture
repair, flat foot correction, external fixation for complex deformities and
extensive experience in peripheral nerve surgery including diabetic peripheral
neuropathy and reconstructive surgery of previously failed foot surgical
procedures. In addition to his surgical
training Dr. Ricciardi focuses on sports medicine of the foot and ankle through
regenerative techniques using the patient’s own blood/platelets for healing chronic
foot and ankle problems (pain) as a result of repetitive sport injuries. This cutting edge technology enables patients
to continue training with little or no down time. Dr. Ricciardi continues to be active in teaching
and training other podiatric surgeons on innovative surgical techniques in foot
surgery. Dr. Ricciardi is Board
Certified by the American Board of Podiatric Surgery, a Fellow of the American
College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons and Fellow of the Association of Extremity
Nerve Surgeons. Dr. Ricciardi’s vision
is to bring each patient the most current State of the Art Technology and
personalized treatment options to meet their Foot and Ankle needs (from
conservative care to surgical options).
Dr. Ricciardi believes in quality service and puts his patients first!
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