Authors: Steenvoorde, Pascal¹; Jacobi, Cathrien E.²; Van Doorn, Louk³; Oskam, Jacques¹

Source: Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England, Volume 89, Number 6, September 2007 , pp. 596-602(7)

Publisher: The Royal College of Surgeons of England

Abstract:

INTRODUCTION: It has been known for centuries that maggots are potent debriding agents capable of removing necrotic tissue and slough. In January 2004, the US Food and Drug Administration decided to regulate maggot debridement therapy (MDT). As it is still not clear which wounds are likely or unlikely to benefit from MDT, we performed a prospective study to gain more insight in patient and wound characteristics influencing outcome.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: In the period between August 2002 and December 2005, patients with infected wounds with signs of gangrenous or necrotic tissue who seemed suited for MDT were enrolled in the present study. In total, 101 patients with 117 ulcers were treated. Most wounds were worst-case scenarios, in which maggot therapy was a treatment of last resort.

RESULTS: In total, 72 patients (71%) were classified as ASA III or IV. In total, 78 of 116 wounds (67%) had a successful outcome. These wounds healed completely (n = 60), healed almost completely (n = 12) or were clean at least (n = 6) at last follow-up. These results seem to be in line with those in the literature. All wounds with a traumatic origin (n = 24) healed completely. All wounds with septic arthritis (n = 13), however, failed to heal and led in half of these cases to a major amputation. According to a multivariate analysis, chronic limb ischaemia (odds ratio [OR], 7.5), the depth of the wound (OR, 14.0), and older age (≥ 60 years; OR, 7.3) negatively influenced outcome. Outcome was not influenced by gender, obesity, diabetes mellitus, smoking, ASA-classification, location of the wound, wound size or wound duration.

CONCLUSIONS: Some patient characteristics (i. e. gender, obesity, smoking behaviour, presence of diabetes mellitus and ASA-classification at presentation) and some wound characteristics (i. e. location of the wound, wound duration and size) do not seem to contra-indicate eligibility for MDT. However, older patients and patients with chronic limb ischaemia or deep wounds are less likely to benefit from MDT. Septic arthritis does not seem to be a good indication for MDT.

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Keywords: WOUND; ULCER; MAGGOT DEBRIDEMENT THERAPY; PREDICTORS; OUTCOME

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1308/003588407X205404

Affiliations: 1: Department of Surgery and Rijnland Wound Clinic, Rijnland Hospital Leiderdorp, Leiderdorp, The Netherlands 2: Department of Medical Decision Making, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands 3: Rijnland Wound Clinic, Rijnland Hospital Leiderdorp, Leiderdorp, The Netherlands

Publication date: 2007-09-01

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• The Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England is the official journal of the College and is published eight times a year in January, March, April, May, July, September, October and November. The main aim of the journal is to publish high quality, peer-reviewed papers that relate to all branches of surgery.
  
  The Annals also includes letters and comments, a regular technical section, NICE news, controversial topics, CORESS feedback, book reviews and the best trainee presentations from England and Wales. The editorial board is composed of members of the College Council and experts from across the surgical specialties.
  
  Archive issues of the Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England are available via the PubMed Central database
  
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