this post was submitted on 28 Mar 2024
634 points (98.0% liked)

Greentext

4464 readers
1364 users here now

This is a place to share greentexts and witness the confounding life of Anon. If you're new to the Greentext community, think of it as a sort of zoo with Anon as the main attraction.

Be warned:

If you find yourself getting angry (or god forbid, agreeing) with something Anon has said, you might be doing it wrong.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] wrath_of_grunge@kbin.social 73 points 8 months ago (19 children)

i mean, as part of my job, i routinely take area hospitals medical grade leeches. it's not like they ever stopped being used by doctors.

[–] chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 28 points 8 months ago (18 children)

Why would you use a leech instead of a needle or something? What are they for

[–] MrShankles@reddthat.com 16 points 8 months ago (1 children)

For skin grafts after burns; the leeches' saliva has anticoagulants that helps blood flow through the microvasculature (tiny blood vessels) of the area. This helps promote growth of new blood vessels, as well as improve the health of the current blood vessels in the area.

TLDR: Helps tiny blood vessels in skin grafts (and other procedures), reduces failure of said skin grafts

[–] Natanael@slrpnk.net 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

If anybody's wondering if there aren't more modern medicines and treatments...

Yes, but leeches are cheap and does the job just fine

load more comments (16 replies)
load more comments (16 replies)