The first recorded use of medicinal leeches has known from ancient Egypt. There was more widespread written reference to their employment in the first century AD. In the 1980s, French surgeons utilized leeches to maintain venous circulation in distal finger replantations that were subject to arterial anastomosis. Leeches are currently used in hirudotherapy, microvascular replantation, reconstructive surgery, and the treatment of venous congestion that takes place upon trauma surgery. In this paper, hirudotherapy is presented for plastic surgery and discussed are the related complications and benefits.
Key words: Hirudo medicinalis, flap, microsurgery, hirudotherapy, venous failure
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