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- Erratum in:
- J Tissue Viability 2001 Jan;11(1):51.
The cost effectiveness of larval therapy in venous ulcers.
West Cumberland Hospital, Whitehaven, Cumbria, UK.
The treatment of necrotic ulcers involves considerable nursing time and expense. The current standard treatment involves repeated application of hydrogels. Larval debridement therapy (LDT) has been shown anecdotally to clear ulcers of necrotic slough but has never been compared directly with 'modern' therapies. The aim of this study has been to compare LDT with hydrogel dressings in the treatment of necrotic venous ulcers. 12 patients with sloughy venous ulcers were randomised to receive either LDT or the control therapy--a hydrogel. Effective debridement occurred with a maximum of one larval application in 6/6 patients. 4/6 patients [corrected] in the hydrogel group still required dressings at one month. The median cost of treatment of the larval group was 78.64 Pounds compared with 136.23 Pounds for the control treatment group (p < 0.05). The study confirms both the clinical efficacy and cost effectiveness of larval therapy in the debridement of sloughy venous ulcers.
PMID: 11299572 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Cited by 3 PubMed Central articles
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Cost effectiveness analysis of larval therapy for leg ulcers.
Soares MO, Iglesias CP, Bland JM, Cullum N, Dumville JC, Nelson EA, Torgerson DJ, Worthy G, VenUS II team.
BMJ. 2009 Mar 19; 338:b825. Epub 2009 Mar 19.
[BMJ. 2009]
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Larval therapy for leg ulcers (VenUS II): randomised controlled trial.
Dumville JC, Worthy G, Bland JM, Cullum N, Dowson C, Iglesias C, Mitchell JL, Nelson EA, Soares MO, Torgerson DJ, et al.
BMJ. 2009 Mar 19; 338:b773. Epub 2009 Mar 19.
[BMJ. 2009]
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Patient acceptability of larval therapy for leg ulcer treatment: a randomised survey to inform the sample size calculation of a randomised trial.
Petherick ES, O'Meara S, Spilsbury K, Iglesias CP, Nelson EA, Torgerson DJ.
BMC Med Res Methodol. 2006 Sep 1; 6:43. Epub 2006 Sep 1.
[BMC Med Res Methodol. 2006]