During the 1980's, reports were published that described the successful application of medicinal leeches to rescue surgery cases with complications. During the reattachment of severed fingers and ears, or of the detached scalp, the blood flow needs to be reestablished. This is achieved by reconnecting the major arteries and veins. In particular, the veins can be difficult to find. If not enough veins are reconnected, the blood may initially enter the reattached organ but cannot exit. This will prevent fresh, oxygenated blood from entering and, consequentially, the reattachment procedure will fail. This is where the medicinal leech comes to the rescue. The animals are applied to the tissue and they actively remove blood and secrete numerous compounds that have vasodialator, anticoagulant, and clot-dissolving properties. This prevents the tissue from dying off and allows the body to reestablish good blood flow to the reattached part
This type of procedure is not without risk. In up to 20% of the patients receiving leech treatment after microvascular surgery, infections by Aeromonas occurred. Fortunately, these infections can usually be prevented by administering antibiotics to the patients. These infections point to the potential of this bacterium, which is cooperative in the medicinal leech, to be pathogenic in humans
In patients with a normal immune response and good blood circulations at the site of attachment, bacterial infections do not usually occur
Another use of leeches is to reduce the pain of arthritis in the knees. A clinical trial suggested that patients receiving leech therapy experienced less pain than the control group
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