Larval Therapy and Prevention of Amputation in Burning Ulcer Patients: A Case Study in Shahid Motahari Hospital , Tehran

Background and objective: The burn is the main trauma which involves more than 1% of all diseases throughout the world. Larval therapy is one of the effective methods for burn treatment that has been used since the ancient time, but unfortunately, in our country, little attention has been paid to it now. This treatment not only helps to remove damaged tissue and biofilms and restore healthy bacterial flora, but it also improves growth factors and senescent cell activities. This study aimed to investigate the larval therapy in removing necrotic tissues and healing of burn wounds and prevention of limb amputation in patients with a severe burning ulcer.Materials and Methods: The present study is applied research which was conducted at Shahid Motahari Accident and Burn Hospital, Tehran, Iran, on a patient with a burning ulcer on his left foot. The physicians ordered larval therapy after routine treatment and failure to obtain the desired results. Larval therapy was performed in three separate 48-hour sessions using sterile Lucilia sericata larvae.Results: At different steps of larval therapy, it was seen that necrotic tissue and bacterial contamination disappeared, gradually. At the end of treatment, no necrotic tissue or bacterial contamination was observed, and the burn wound was completely healed without any surgery, and the patient was discharged. Conclusion: The results of the present research demonstrated the efficacy of larval therapy in the removal of necrotic tissues and healing of burning ulcers. It is recommended to use larval treatment as an effective suggested treatment for burning ulcers. Also, further studies should be conducted in this area to developing this method in our country.

کلیدواژه ها:

Burns-Necrotic tissue-Maggot therapy