Z340/0469 Rights Managed
This image is part of the feature Maggots
Credit: VOLKER STEGER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Caption: Maggots cleaning wound. Close-up of an open wound on a patient's foot being cleaned by surgical maggots. Maggots are used to eat away dead and dying flesh and leave the healthy areas. The maggots clean the wound far more efficiently than is possible with drugs or other methods. This patient had his toes amputated after complications due to diabetes. These maggots are antiseptic, and keep the area free of bacteria. Only the maggots of the fly Lucilia suricata are used, and they are bred for this purpose in sterile conditions. Research is under way into isolating the digestive and antiseptic properties in the maggots' saliva. Photographed at the Bietigheim Clinic, Germany.
Release details: Model release not required. Property release not required.
Keywords: amputee, animal, clean wound, cleaning, diabetes, fly, insect, insecta, invertebrate, invertebrates, lucilia sericata, maggot, maggot therapy, maggots, maggots clean wound, maggots cleaning, medical use, nature, wildlife, wound, wound cleaning, zoology
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