Leeches
 

Docs and 18Ds only, please.

Would you, under any circumstances, use leeches to treat a patient? Under what circumstances?

Can I provide info?

RL:

Say yes.

Trust me on this one.

TR

Sticking my head out of the Leech pond
 

Hirudo medicinalis: is parasitic and the adults feed on the blood of mammals. It attaches to the host by means of its two suckers and bites through the skin of its victim. Simultaneously, the leech injects an anaesthetic so that its presence is not detected, and an anticoagulant in order for the incision to remain open during the meal. It has three jaws, which work back and forth during the feeding process, which ususally lasts about 20 to 40 minutes and leaves a tripartite star-shaped scar on the host. After a full meal of 10ml to 15 ml of blood, the medicinal leech may increase 8 to 11 times its initial body size. Leeches only feed about once every six months, this is about how long the blood meal takes to be fully digested. Certain bacteria keep the blood from decaying during the long digestion period. H. medicinalis may even go longer than six months without food by digesting its own tissues.

Hirudin: is the active principle in the salivary secretion of leeches. The name hirudin is from Hirudo medicinalis, the name of the medicinal leech..
In 1884 John Haycraft in Strasbourg found that leeches contained a substance with anticoagulant properties. This anticoagulant in leech saliva was isolated in the 1950s and found to be an antithrombin. The primary chemical structure of hirudin was determined in 1976.
The anticoagulant drugs desirudin and lepirudin (brand name: Refludan) are genetically engineered forms of hirudin.


Leeches are not field expedient medicine. Leeches are used post reconstruction to relieve pressure and increase venous circulation in tissue grafts. There is often constriction and or seepage in smaller blood vessels. Leeches will pull pooled blood out of the effected area, Hirudin will cause the blood flow to increase, this fosters tissue growth and helps prevent infection.

I have seen Leeches used to great effect on appendage reattachment and large tissue flap reconstruction such as burns and post-cancer reconstruction.

case studies:
http://www.leechesusa.com/LEECHESUSA/case1.asp

http://www.leechesusa.com/LEECHESUSA/case1.asp

This thread needs photos!

Good job Mumbleypeg.
RL, Reaper made the correct call.

There is much more to Mumbleypeg than we know. :D

I know MP's views. Still waiting to hear from a doctor or an 18D. :munchin

The 3 jaws of said leech MP spoke of. NumNumNum!!!!! :D

OK, so there seem to be no docs or 18Ds on this board who would use leeches on their patients, is that right? :munchin

I'm not a doc but I have stayed at a Holiday Inn.....

Who you need to ask are "VASCULAR SURGEONS" or you could go to this site http://www.vascularweb.org/ and run a search for leeches..... I'll do you one better... here's the article:


FDA Clears Medicinal Leeches for Marketing
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has for the first time cleared the commercial marketing of leeches for medicinal purposes.

Leeches can help heal skin grafts by removing blood pooled under the graft and restore blood circulation in blocked veins by removing pooled blood.

Leeches have been used as an alternative treatment to blood-letting and amputation for several thousand years. They reached their height of medicinal use in the mid- 1800’s. Today they are used in medicine throughout the world as tools in skin grafts and reattachment surgery.

Medicinal leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) are bloodsucking aquatic animals that live in fresh water.

Ricarimpex SAS, a French firm, is the first company to request and receive FDA clearance to market leeches as medical devices. The firm has been breeding leeches for 150 years. They are handled in a certified facility that tracks each lot.

Revised June 28, 2004

Hell next post you make will be putting down maggots for medical use!!!! :rolleyes:

a lawyer asking for a doctor's advise about the use of leeches on their clients...i mean, patients...? :eek:

Actually, I'm looking for alternative careers. :rolleyes: :D

Still no docs or 18Ds endorsing usage . . . :munchin

RL, I think you should keep some in a jar on your desk. You know, kind of like Reagan with his jelly beans... :D

Nah, I keep a big huge one on my chair.

so, what do you want to know...we use them on finger/hand re-plantations,
I've used maggots on necrotic tissues that we can't surgically debride...yes, I have pics, just ask......

ss