1. Maggot therapy is the use of green or bluebottle fly maggots for the removal of necrotic or infected tissue (debridement). The maggots can also remove devitalised cells that have accumulated in the wound (sloughy tissue).1
   
2. The medical use of maggots was popularised by US Army doctor William S Baer in the First World War, however some research shows the use of medical maggots has existed since the mid-16th century.2,3
   
3. Approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the use of medical maggots was granted 20 years ago in 2004. Shortly after this, maggot therapy was introduced under the NHS.4,5
   
4. Medical maggots cannot breed inside the wound. The clinically bred larvae use chemicals to break down tissue into liquid; the only form of nutrition they can digest, as they have no teeth.6
   
5. The origins of the use of medical maggots to treat wounds can be traced back to studies in Aboriginal Australians and Mayan tribes in Central America. One documented case details how Mayans would soak bandages in cattle blood and dry it in the sun before applying it to a wound in hopes that the wound would fill with maggots.7,8
   

References

1. Visit: chelwest.nhs.uk/your-visit/patient-leaf lets/tissue-viability/maggot-therapy
2. Visit: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3048269/
3. Visit: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2600045/
4. Visit: nursingtimes.net/tissue-viability-and-wound-care/the-principles-of-maggot-therapy-and-its-role-in-contemporary-woundcare-16-08-2021/
5. Visit: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36880424
6. Visit: theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/22/breeding-maggots-heal-wounds-welsh-firm-biomonde
7. Visit: hmpgloballearningnetwork.com/site/twc/articles/history-wound-care-maggots-extraordinary-natural-phenomenon
8. Dunbar G (1944), ‘Notes on the Ngemba tribe of the Central Darling River of Western New South Wales’ Mankind, 3,140-148

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