May not be work safe medical type question..

CDX_NSX

CDX_NSX

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So I just received by email from a friend, a video (possibly African in origin) of a woman's breast, specifically the nipple region, that was infected by maggots that were burrowed into her flesh. The people attending to her were removing the maggots with a pair of tweezers.

Very disturbing, but I'm wondering if the medical types (of which I know are many) on this forum could explain what might cause something like that. I'm curious because I have never seen nor heard of anything like it.

Thanks.
 
Flies laying eggs in a wound or even some moist areas will do it. Once they're in, they hatch, grow, and burrow around. Ask me about the idiots that lost their little old poodle in back of their house for a couple of days in the summer. "had a problem with eyes" when they found it. Both sockets filled with maggots.
 
Eeewwww...! I almost regret asking.... Almost. :) Knowledge is always good.... Even when it's a little icky. :eek: :tongue:

Thanks!:biggrin:
 
Well, somethin's gotta eat dead stuff, right?

They have surgical maggots that they actually employ to treat skin and other necrosis. the things have evolved well...no machine nor process can approach their efficacy. Same as w/ leeches. Surgical leeches are used all the time to extract excess blood.

River blindness comes from a parasite which attacks the eye, and is endemic to Africa.
 
Interesting. The thing that bothered me was the fact that they burrowed into the nipple with their little heads facing out. Being that they were relatively large at about 1 cm and 0.3 - 0.5 cm thick, they made pretty large holes. Kinda made the nipple look like a gatling gun. It was also interestingly only on the areola/nipple area and not any other part of the breast.

Do you know if the surgical maggots also burrow like that?
 
donwon said:
I've seen that video too. It is really nasty. It wasnt just that area though, they also removed them from all over her body.
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Ah! I see. I must have received the shortened version of it.

Yeah, really "gross you out" kinda stuff. I'm still trying to shake the image from my head. :p
 
I know! I have a sandwhich sitting in front of me too, I cant get myself to eat it after recalling that video.

Amazing how bad her untreated infections got. I bet perseig would have had a blast since he likes picking scabs and stuff. He would have had a field day. :tongue:
 
donwon said:
I know! I have a sandwhich sitting in front of me too, I cant get myself to eat it after recalling that video.

Amazing how bad her untreated infections got. I bet perseig would have had a blast since he likes picking scabs and stuff. He would have had a field day. :tongue:
Click to expand...
Oops! Hehe... Sorry. :p

Maybe some porn will help. :D
 
You don't need to get vids from Africa to see this stuff,just hang around any big city ER and waite for the unfortunate homeless,alcoholic,malnurished,diabetic to come in with legs full of gas gangrene and maggots,happens every day right here :frown:
 
You guys are making me sick. I remember going through gross anatomy and having no problem, but this stuff makes sick. I understand what liftshard is talking about and saw a video about it, but no matter how good they work I will always think that maggots are nasty. I don't understand how those people eat em on fear factor.
 
Mmmmm...Maggots......When I did my first residency at Cook County Hospital in Chicago....maggots in wounds were a relatively common finding. I still remember my first encounter...


She was an elderly, nearly blind, alcoholic, diabetic with severe neuropathy so she couldn't feel her feet. She sat on her porch all day and drank booze as an ischemic, gangrenous ulceration perforated her entire midfoot. She was brought into the ER and turned over to me. :eek:

When I was debriding the wound, I remember "rolling over" the exposed extensor tendons on the top of her foot and seeing dozens of squirming white maggots on the underside of the tendons and in the wound (disgusting, but keeping her alive and non septic). Great teaching case and source of many good stories told over beers.
 
docdan said:
...(disgusting, but keeping her alive and non septic). Great teaching case and source of many good stories told over beers.
Click to expand...

... Or tequilas. :D

Please ignore this question if it's too tedious to explain, but how were the maggots keeping her alive?

BTW, the nipple/areola in the video didn't appear to be wounded. It just looked like they simply moved in. :p

PS. My feet feel weird now. :eek: :p :D
 
if it ain't broke, why change it...

I recall losing more classmates than actual patients during surgical debridement procedures. I think a few of those students ended up in Psych' internships, others in research positions. I still get a bit nauseous at the mere mention or sight of such... :eek:

Use of leeches is rather interesting in that they help keep the micro-circulation of blood continual during extreme trauma cases (ie. tissue reattachments, skin/tissue grafts) w/ their sucking abililities as well as the enzymes contained in their saliva (?) or mouth which act as anticoagulants, antibiotics, and anesthetics: rather analogous to mosquitos! Icky, but fascinating stuff! :cool:
 
CDX_NSX said:
Please ignore this question if it's too tedious to explain, but how were the maggots keeping her alive?
Click to expand...
I don't think they(the maggots) were keeping her alive. They just took temporary residence in her foot because of an open wound. Because she neuropathy she was unable to feel her foot and that is probably why the infection on her foot was so infected and allowed the maggots to get there.
 
CDX_NSX said:
... Or tequilas. :D

Please ignore this question if it's too tedious to explain, but how were the maggots keeping her alive?

:D
Click to expand...


Well, perhaps the maggots weren't the only thing keeping her alive, but they helped out. That's because the wound was caused by a combination of factors including extremely poor circulation. The wound had necrotic (dead) tissue, which is great bacteria food. Unless, of course, Senor Jose Wormo :biggrin: , eats all that good rotting tissue first. The lack of dead tissue, along with some other beneficial properties that our beloved maggot had bestowed upon the wound, was keeping a possible life threatening infection from occuring.

BTW, they're also good for catching bream.
 
I see. OK. Interesting stuff. Gross, but interesting. Kinda like the discovery channel. :biggrin:

Hmm.... I wonder if human flesh eating maggots taste better to the bream.:rolleyes: :biggrin:

And if one eats a fish that ate a maggot that ate human flesh, does that make one a cannibal?:eek: :biggrin:
 
CDX_NSX said:
Hmm.... I wonder if human flesh eating maggots taste better to the bream.:rolleyes: :biggrin:
And if one eats a fish that ate a maggot that ate human flesh, does that make one a cannibal?:eek: :biggrin:
Click to expand...


I'm sure that's what the surgeon was thinking when he extracted the maggots: "man, these would make great fishing bait". :D


Next we'll be talking about foot infections... anyone remember that thread?
 
I bought a couple of Ham and Cheese Crosandwich's from Burger King for breakfast one day. I put one in the microwave and I ate the other. The next morning I heated up the one in the microwave and started eating it. About two thirds of the way thru I noticed "white things" wiggleing out of the sandwich!! I raised the bread and the ham was covered in maggots :eek: I got sick immediately.
My question is how did they spring up overnight from just sitting in the wrapper in the microwave?
 

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