Hirudotherapy /Leech therapy: Applications and Indications in Surgery
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چکیده
Hirudotherapy (HT) is the application of medicinal leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) for therapeutic use. It is one of the oldest remedies, being employed by various medicinal practitioners. HT involves the attachment of cultured leeches onto the affected areas. Leech therapy involves an initial bite, which is usually a painless bite, followed by the sucking of 5 and 15 ml of blood. Its major therapeutic benefits are not only due to blood sucked during the biting, but also from the various bioactive substances, such as Hirudin, calin, Hyaluronidase, and Histamine-like substances, to name a few. HT has been employed in various disease conditions and surgical complications. It has been successfully used in plastic and reconstructive surgeries, cardiovascular complications, varicose veins, hemorrhoids and various joint ailments. Nowadays, it is also being utilized in gastrointestinal disorders, dermatology and gynecological abnormalities. More recently, HT has found new applications in cancer therapy, hypersensitivity conditions, like asthma, male/female sterility and diabetes. Taking into consideration all the facts, HT efforts should be made in optimizing the success of medicinal leech therapy in clinical and private practice.
منابع مشابه
Hirudotherapy in veterinary medicine.
The saliva of medicinal leeches, e.g., Hirudo medicinalis and Hirudo verbana commonly used in hirudotherapy, contains more than 100 bioactive substances with various therapeutic effects, including anticoagulant, vasodilator, thrombolytic, anti-inflammatory and anaesthetic properties. Recently, leeches have been used very successfully in veterinary medicine to treat many diseases of animals, esp...
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A written informed consent should be obtained from the patient before hirudotherapy is initiated. The patients should be treated each day of leech therapy with anti-Aeromonas antibiotics. Leeches should be applied on the darker spots of the reattached body parts or flaps. Usually 1-10 leeches are used for each treatment, while at the beginning, the patient might need two or more treatments per ...
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1Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Academic Teaching Hospital Dresden-Friedrichstadt, Dresden, Germany, 2Center for Physical Therapy and Rehabilitative Medicine, Academic Teaching Hospital Dresden-Friedrichstadt, Dresden, Germany, 3Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Emergency Medicine and Pain Management, Academic Teaching Hospital Dresden-Friedrichstadt, Dresden...
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BACKGROUND The use of leeches can effectively increase the salvage rate of flap congestion. However, the first reaction from patients and carers in using leeches in clinical fields is strong aversion. This can be due to the fact that development of our culture from agriculture to industrial society, coming across leeches became fairly rare. Also because of the biological traits that leeches car...
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