5. Medicinal Maggot Application and Maggot Therapy Dressing Technology

Maggot therapy dressings are intended to keep maggots on the wound during treatment. Some therapists make their own dressings, others use commercially produced dressings, and many use both, depending on their patients’ wounds. There are two basic designs for maggot dressings. Maggot confinement dressings confine the maggots to the wound bed and allow them complete access to the wound, while maggot containment dressings totally contain the maggots within a net bag that facilitates easy handling but does not allow full access to the wound. This chapter describes the basic principles and goals of the ideal maggot dressing, and provides examples of how that ideal dressing can be achieved.