Maggot Debridement Therapy

By Ronald A. Sherman, MD

The year 2019 began with a shadow over the field of biosurgery and a dark cloud over American health care: BioMonde, currently the largest producer of medicinal maggots in the world, just closed its American laboratory. Most famous for its dressing containing medicinal maggots within a net bag (BioBag™), BioMonde has been very profitable in Europe for years, where it operates two busy maggot-producing laboratories (in Wales and Germany). In 2014, with $5 million of dedicated investor funding, BioMonde opened a laboratory in Florida to serve the American market. Despite the popularity of their flagship product, BioMonde's US laboratory never turned a profit. Simply stated, sales were not high enough... but why?

Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine Journal Review Club
Editor's note: This post is part of the Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine (TUSPM) journal review club blog series. In each blog post, a TUSPM student will review a journal article relevant to wound management and related topics and provide their evaluation of the clinical research therein.

by Ronald Sherman MD, MSC, DTM&H

Bob Hope and Bing Crosby starred in a series of films called "On the Road" in which the duo traveled around the globe, facing a variety of amusing obstacles and mishaps. Therapists and patients desiring maggot debridement therapy (MDT) for their non-healing wounds often face a variety of obstacles, too... though they may not seem quite as amusing. Let's consider some of these obstacles and examine ways to avoid or mitigate them.

We can organize the most likely obstacles chronologically:

by Ronald Sherman MD, MSC, DTM&H

by Ron Sherman MD, MSC, DTM&H

Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine Journal Review Club

Editor's note: This post is part of the Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine (TUSPM) journal review club blog series. In each blog post, a TUSPM student will review a journal article relevant to wound management and related topics and provide their evaluation of the clinical research therein.

by Ron Sherman MD, MSC, DTM&H

by Laurie Swezey RN, BSN, CWOCN, CWS, FACCWS

There are four main types of debridement: mechanical, autolytic, enzymatic, and surgical. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Let’s take a look at each method individually:

by Aletha Tippett MD

Recently I had a discussion with several other physicians and a topic that came up was why maggots were not more widely received. I was not aware that maggots were not widely received since I have used them regularly for 15 years. So, the question is, why not use maggots?

by Deboshree Roy, MSC and Ron Sherman MD, MSC, DTM&H