Surgical maggots and the history of their medical use

Abstract

Biosurgery or maggot therapy is a method of non-operative treatment of chronic skin and soft tissue wounds based on the medicinal properties of the so-called “surgical maggots.” Biosurgery became popular in the period between World Wars I and II and has recently aroused great interest in the US, the United Kingdom, and some continental European countries. The method is known as “maggot debridement therapy” in the US and as “biosurgery” in the United Kingdom.