No abstract

Maggot debridement therapy (MDT), which lost its importance after discovering antibiotics, has recently come to the fore with the increase of antibiotic resistance. MDT, widely used in human medicine, has had limited use in veterinary medicine. The material of this case report was a 5-month-old Doberman dog that was bandaged due to a fracture of the left hind toe. It was got information that the bandage in the leg area was wet and remained on the wound for five days. As a result, the foot turned into a macerated tissue and gas gangrene was formed. The gangrenous foot area was amputated from the upper 1/3 of the femur. After surgery the amputated area became an infected wound and did not respond to antibiotic therapy. The research was planned to investigate the efficacy of MDT on an infected wound. For this purpose, the sterile first and second instar larvae of Lucilia sericata were used. The first MDT administration was done six days after the amputation procedure. The second maggot application was repeated after 24 hours, and the other two applications were repeated 48 hours intervals. After the first application, it was observed that the amount of discharge gradually decreased in the wound, and rapid healing was detected in the amputation area. The infected wound that did not respond to antibiotic treatment was successfully treated through the sterile L. sericata larvae’ characteristics, promoting wound healing. This suggests that MDT may be widely used in the future, as it is a cheap, effective, natural and easy-to-apply method.