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York (pte013/11.01.2005/10:20) - A British University is seeking volunteers for what will reportedly be the largest study into the healing powers of maggots. As the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk reports, the University of York http://www.york.ac.uk is looking for 600 leg ulcer sufferers to test the effectiveness of the larvae of a species of greenbottle fly. Previous studies have shown that maggots speed up healing by eating dead tissue and leaving healthy tissue alone.
The study, which will cost 750,000 pounds (1.07 million euros) is being run in partnership with National Health Service (NHS) trusts across the north of England and the midlands, as well as in Northern Ireland, and aims to reduce the annual 600 million pound (857.4 million euro) cost to Britain's NHS of treating leg ulcers.
According to researchers, the trial will compare the use of sterile maggots against a standard treatment using hydrogel. "Patients will have the chance to take part in an exciting study which will find out whether maggots really do heal ulcers more quickly," said Pauline Raynor, the trial co-ordinator. "We need a total of 600 patients to come forward to take part in this important research. Of the people who volunteered so far, squeamishness does not appear to be an issue at all," she said.
Maggots had previously been used as a treatment for hundreds of years before the introduction of antibiotics phased them out around 80 years ago. However, in recent years many hospitals have taken to using larvae to treat wound infections again. "The trial will compare the clinical and cost-effectiveness of larval therapy with the more conventional treatment, as well as the effect on patients' quality of life over a period of one year," Raynor added.
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