Maggot debridement therapy in an infected wounded dog: A case report

English (OpenAlex)

Losing its importance over time with the discovery of antibiotics, maggot debridement therapy (MDT) to treat non-healing wounds tends to increase in recent years. However, its use in veterinary medicine is rather limited than human medicine. The material of this case report consisted of a 5-month-old Doberman dog bandaged for a fracture of the left hind toe. An anamnesis was taken that the bandage on the leg area was wet and remained on the wound for five days, and due to these, the foot turned into a macerated and gangrenous structure. Then, the gangrenous foot was amputated, and an infected wound that did not respond to antibiotic therapy occurred in the amputation area. The study was planned to investigate the efficacy of MDT on a post-operative infected wound. For this purpose, the sterile first and second instar larvae of Lucilia sericata were used. The first MDT administration was performed six days after the amputation. The second application was repeated after 24 hours, and the other two applications were repeated 48 hours intervals. After the first application, the amount of discharge gradually decreased in the wound, and rapid healing was determined. The wound was successfully treated by the wound healing-promoting characteristics of sterile L. sericata larvae. It is thought that this study will contribute to the spread of MDT applications, which are applied at a limited level for the treatment of non-healing chronic infected wounds in the field of veterinary medicine.