Doctors Use $400 FDA-Cleared Maggots to Debride Wounds as Some Patients Avoid Surgery
Updated
Updated · NBC News · May 17
Doctors Use $400 FDA-Cleared Maggots to Debride Wounds as Some Patients Avoid Surgery
2 articles · Updated · NBC News · May 17
FDA-cleared medicinal maggots are being used to remove dead tissue and help prevent infection, giving doctors a precise debridement option for patients who cannot safely undergo surgery.
Dr. Ronald Sherman said the lab-raised, germ-free larvae dissolve diseased tissue while sparing healthy flesh, offering finer control than a scalpel and requiring no anesthesia.
Tufts Medical Center uses the therapy once or twice a year, including for patients awaiting heart transplants, while USC doctors used home maggot therapy during the pandemic to help save part of one man's foot.
Cost and acceptance still limit wider use: Sherman said enough maggots for one or two wounds costs about $400, versus roughly $450 a week for an insured enzymatic ointment that can take more than 12 weeks.
Some surgeons say evidence remains too limited for standard care, and clinicians also must screen for Pseudomonas bacteria and overcome the treatment's persistent 'yuck factor.'
If maggot therapy saves limbs, why do insurance hurdles and the 'ick factor' prevent its widespread use in modern hospitals?
Can biotech replicate maggot enzymes in a gel, offering a cure for chronic wounds without the live, crawling larvae?