Cat with chronic infected leg wound treated with sterile fly larvae

Abstract

The larvae of the green bottle fly Lucilia Sericata have been successfully used throughout history as a debridement method for chronic and infected wounds. In 1929, Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin dramatically reduced the use of surgical larvae, but soon after the emergence of antibiotic resistance, sterile larvae re-emerged as an alternative in treatment. For a long time, sterile larvae applications were neglected in veterinary medicine. However, recently, both in the world and in Turkey, MDT is seen as an effective treatment method for chronic wounds of animals. The case of this case report is a 1-yearold male stray cat brought to a private clinic by a benefactor with a chronic infectious wound of 2.5x 2.5 cm and 0.5 cm in depth extending from the distal right hind leg cruris to the region of the ossa tarsi bones. It was decided to apply MDT to the wound using sterile 2nd instar Lucilia Sericata larvae. Sterile 2nd instar larvae were placed in the wound area daily and after 24 hours the larvae were removed, the area was cleaned and then new larvae were placed. Larval treatment was applied 7 times and until the last larva application, the large and infected wound gradually shrank and 100% healing was achieved. In this study, it was reported that Lucilia Sericata larvae showed high recovery in the treatment of chronic wounds of animals and the importance of evaluating them among treatment alternatives was emphasized.