maggots

[bubbasmom]

so my question is how many nursing students/ nurses have had to care for a patient that had maggots in a wound? im afraid that this will make me want to throw up!

[CoffeePlease]

I have often wanted to throw up. I'm told it will go away over time. :-)

[Pneumothorax, BSN, RN]

transported a guy w/ maggots coming out of his stg4 decubitus ulcer around his rectal area... couldnt drive fast enough to escape the smell. its horribly putrid & disgusting.

i would suggest some vicks under the nose & a surgical mask...

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

i would suggest some vicks under the nose & a surgical mask...

That smell just reminds me of cadavers....

I have and I thought it was so cool at the time I didnt notice the horrific stench coming through. You have to be pretty proficient at mouth breathing.

[sommeil, ASN, RN]

my sister-in-law (ED nurse in austrailia) tells me maggots aren't that bad compared to gangrene. so that's my big worry.

[ashleyisawesome, BSN, RN]

thats pretty disgusting, but im semi-intrigued.

[prospectivepville]

I hate myself sometimes for having a draw to the disgusting things. The only thing that really turns my stomach is that hocking sound some people make when they cough, and then don't spit.

[followyourbliss]

There are some very interesting articles in Nursing and Medical magazines, online, and research as to the pros and cons to utilizing maggots in wound care.

I haven't had the opportunity to work with them, although my nursing co-workers have.

Here in B.C. there is an issue with border control issues in regard to the maggots. They are now deemed "medical" and are not easy to get across the border anymore. Apparently UBC has offered to use their lab for the purpose of growing and making use of " medical maggots".

I am intrigued by the idea, I wonder how I would feel seeing them "working" in a wound?

Well, I am off to look at Youtube for videos of them !

[followyourbliss]

No, I believe this discussion is circling around the medical application of them, pertaining to acute and chronic wounds. Both with longstanding self deficit and patients unaware of them, as well as with using them in wound management. This is prevalent in wound care in the treatment of gangrene and other open wounds that would need to be debrided of necrotic flesh, the maggots do not interfere with the new tissue, only removing dead tissue, thus encouraging the healing process in much the same platform as chemical debridement and the use of similar treatments.

Warm Regards,

Follow Your Bliss

[~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN]

Are you guys talking about medical maggots? They shouldn't smell. I get freaked out by things like maggots and worms, not the thing itself but tons of little things moving around is what gets me. It's a weird quirk I know, but I am the same way seeing like an ant hill that has ants swarming out of it. Bleck!

Anyway, that said. The use of maggots for medical healing is fascinating to me. Extremely effective for wounds and cheap. To bad the thought and stigma keeps it at bay because it is a great tool.

I will never be signing up to be a wound care nurse though. Give me blood and guts but please keep those infected non healing wounds away from me. :|

[rn/writer, RN]

Medical maggots don't smell bad. It's the putrefying flesh they're cleaning up that causes the stench.

[ImThatGuy, BSN, RN]

so my question is how many nursing students/ nurses have had to care for a patient that had maggots in a wound? im afraid that this will make me want to throw up!

Just call Bear Grylls. He'll come eat them.