Leeches and Their Use in Medicine (Annellida: Hirudinea: Rhynchobdelliformes)

Abstract

Leech therapy relieves pain and inflammation, and there are explanations for its success. In leech saliva, in addition to substances that prevent blood clotting, there are also analgesic and anesthetic compounds that reduce pain. This article aims to study the characteristics of the leech (Annellida: Hirudinea: Rhynchobdelliformes) and its use in Medicine. This is a narrative review of the literature, which is indicated to explain and discuss a certain subject from a theoretical or contextual perspective, to allow the reader to ask questions and update knowledge on a specific topic. The search for scientific articles that made up this review was carried out on Google Scholar, Biological Abstract, HAL, Qeios, ResearchGate, Scielo, and SSRN. The following descriptors in Health Sciences (DeCS) were used: biological therapy, larva, wound, debridement, and healing. The following inclusion criteria were considered: original articles and reviews, published nationally and internationally in full, available electronically, and published in Portuguese, English, and Spanish. The exclusion criteria were dissertations, theses, monographs, and conclusion work, as well as duplicates and those that require payment to access the content during integration.