Akademik

Maggot
A soft-bodied wormlike larva of a fly that lays its eggs in living or especially in decaying tissues. The living or rotting material furnishes heat for the hatching of the eggs and food for the newly hatched maggots. Certain blowfly maggots — notably, those of the blackbottle fly (Phormia regina) and the greenbottle fly (Phaenicia sericata) — were used in medicine to consume and clear away both bacteria and dead tissue from deep wounds and so promote their healing. This was a favorite part of the treatment of osteomyelitis (infection of bone) and other deep suppurative (pus-filled) lesions. In a sense it was biologic (rather than surgical) debridement of a wound. The maggots also promoted healing by secreting allantoin, a supposedly salutary substance found also in fetal urine.
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A fly larva or grub.
- cheese m. SYN: Philopia casei.
- surgical m. a sterilized botfly m. used in an obsolete therapy of wound debridement and removal of necrotic tissues.

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mag·got 'mag-ət n a soft-bodied legless grub that is the larva of a dipteran fly (as the housefly) and develops usu. in decaying organic matter or as a parasite in plants or animals

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n.
the wormlike larva of a fly, which occasionally infests human tissues (see myiasis). Formerly maggots were, in some cases, allowed to feed on dead and rotting tissues and so assist in the cleaning and healing of serious wounds. Interest in this ancient practice has revived in light of the growing resistance of bacteria to antibiotics: encouraging results were obtained in a recent clinical trial in which maggots were applied to refractory leg ulcers in patients unfit for surgery.

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mag·got (magґət) a soft-bodied larva of an insect, especially a form that usually lives in decaying flesh; sometimes they infest wounds of live animals (see myiasis). Families of particular importance are Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae. The living maggots of Phaenicia sericata and Phormia regina have been used in the treatment of osteomyelitis and other suppurative infections to clear away dead tissue and promote healing because their secretions contain allantoin.

Medical dictionary. 2011.