Smart Library

Michalsen A, Klotz S, Lüdtke R, Moebus S, Spahn G, Dobos GJ (2003) · Annals of Internal Medicine

Effectiveness of leech therapy in women with symptomatic arthrosis of the first carpometacarpal joint: a randomized controlled trial

Michalsen A, Lüdtke R, Cesur Ö, Afra D, Musial F, Baecker M, Fink M, Dobos GJ (2008) · Pain

The Effectiveness of Leech Therapy in Chronic Low Back Pain

Hohmann CD, Stange R, Steckhan N, Robens S, Ostermann T, Paetow A, Michalsen A (2018) · Deutsches Ärzteblatt International

Leech therapy for symptomatic treatment of knee osteoarthritis: results and implications of a pilot study

Michalsen A, Moebus S, Spahn G, Esch T, Langhorst J, Dobos GJ (2002) · Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine

Insufficient evidence

Effectiveness of leech therapy in chronic lateral epicondylitis: a randomized controlled trial

Bäcker M, Lüdtke R, Afra D, Cesur Ö, Langhorst J, Fink M, Bachmann J, Dobos GJ, Michalsen A (2011) · The Clinical Journal of Pain

Effectiveness of topical gel of medical leech (Hirudo medicinalis) saliva extract on patients with knee osteoarthritis: a randomized clinical trial

Shakouri A, Adljouy N, Balkani S, Mohamadi M, Hamishehkar H, Abdolalizadeh J, Kazem Shakouri S (2017) · Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice

Randomised controlled trial with medical leeches for osteoarthritis of the knee

Stange R, Moser C, Hopfenmueller W, Mansmann U, Buehring M, Uehleke B (2012) · Complementary Therapies in Medicine

Effect of taleeq (leech therapy) in dawali (varicose veins)

Nigar Z, Alam MA (2011) · Ancient Science of Life

Efficacy of leech therapy in the management of osteoarthritis (Sandhivata)

Rai PK, Singh AK, Singh OP, Rai NP, Dwivedi AK (2011) · Ayu

Medicinal leeches and the microsurgeon: a four-year study, clinical series and risk benefit review

Whitaker IS, Josty IC, Hawkins S, Azzopardi E, Naderi N, Graf J, Damaris L, Lineaweaver WC, Kon M (2011) · Microsurgery

Medicinal leeches for surgically uncorrectable venous congestion after free flap breast reconstruction

Pannucci CJ, Nelson JA, Chung CU, Fischer JP, Kanchwala SK, Kovach SJ, Serletti JM, Wu LC (2014) · Microsurgery

Hirudotherapy for limb ischemia in the pediatric intensive care unit: a retrospective observational cohort

Resch JC, Hedstrom R, Steiner ME, Said SM, Somani A (2023) · Frontiers in Pediatrics

Efficacy and safety of topical hirudin (Hirudex): a double-blind, placebo-controlled study

Stamenova PK, Marchetti T, Simeonov I (2001) · European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences

Assessment of leech therapy for knee osteoarthritis: a randomized study

Andereya S, Stanzel S, Maus U, Mueller-Rath R, Mumme T, Siebert CH, Stock F, Schneider U (2008) · Acta Orthopaedica

Comparisons of medicinal leech therapy with venous catheterization in the treatment of venous congestion of the sural flap

Mozafari N, Ghazisaidi MR, Hosseini SN, Abdolzadeh M (2010) · Microsurgery

Study of the effect of leeching on plasma endothelin and soluble interleukin-2 receptor in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Cheng SP, Liu JL, Yuan J (2005) · Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine

Hirulog in the treatment of unstable angina. Results of the Thrombin Inhibition in Myocardial Ischemia (TIMI) 7 trial

Fuchs J, Cannon CP (1995) · Circulation

A systematic review and meta-analysis of medical leech therapy for osteoarthritis of the knee

Lauche R, Cramer H, Langhorst J, Dobos G (2014) · The Clinical Journal of Pain

The efficacy and safety of medical leech therapy for osteoarthritis of the knee: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Wang H, Zhang J, Chen L (2018) · International Journal of Surgery

Chemical and mechanical alternatives to leech therapy: a systematic review and critical appraisal

Azzopardi EA, Whitaker IS, Rozen WM, Naderi N, Kon M (2011) · Journal of Reconstructive Microsurgery

Conservative treatment of thumb base osteoarthritis: a systematic review

Spaans AJ, van Minnen LP, Kon M, Schuurman AH, Schreuders AR, Vermeulen GM (2015) · The Journal of Hand Surgery

Medicinal leech therapy in pain syndromes: a narrative review

Koeppen D, Aurich M, Rampp T (2013) · Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift

Controversy: hirudotherapy (leech therapy) as an alternative treatment for osteoarthritis

Gunawan F, Wibowo YR, Bunawan NC, Turner JH (2015) · Acta Medica Indonesiana

Medicinal leech therapy in venous congestion and various ulcer forms: Perspectives of Western, Persian and Indian medicine

Koeppen D, Aurich M, Pasalar M, Rampp T (2020) · Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine

Efficacy of Medicinal Leech Therapy in Diverse Clinical Applications: A Comprehensive Study from Azerbaijan

Farzali S, Yaraliyeva S, Huseynov F, Manafov A, Saglam N (2025) · Turkiye Parazitolojii Dergisi

Clinical Efficacy of Leech Therapy (Ta'liq al-'Alaq) in Eczema (Nar Farsi): An Open-Label Single-Arm Clinical Study

Ulla P BS, Aaisha B, Bokhari S, Zabiulla P, Alam MA, Nikhat S (2025) · Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine

Prophylactic versus reactive leech therapy for venous congestion after fingertip replantation: A retrospective comparative study and literature review

Kameda Y, Motomiya M, Watanabe N, Ota M, Iwasaki N (2025) · JPRAS Open

Standardized protocol for artery-only fingertip replantation

Buntic RF, Brooks D (2010) · The Journal of Hand Surgery

Hirudotherapy in Wound Healing

Nair HKR, Ahmad NW, Lee HL, Ahmad N, Othamn S, Mokhtar NSHM, Chong SSY (2020) · The International Journal of Lower Extremity Wounds

Determining the appropriate number and duration of leech therapy in congested tissues using tissue spectrophotometry and laser Doppler flowmetry

Rothenberger J, Petersen W, Schaller HE, Held M (2016) · Wound Repair and Regeneration

Infections Associated with Treatment with Hirudo medicinalis - Report of Two Cases and Review of the Literature

Reese K, Gümbel D, Seifert J, Daeschlein G, Napp M, Ekkernkamp A (2015) · Handchirurgie, Mikrochirurgie, plastische Chirurgie

Do that to me one more time! What kind of trial replications do we need?

Lüdtke R (2008) · Complementary Therapies in Medicine

Hirudo (Leech) for proliferative vitreous retinopathy: A protocol for systemic review and meta-analysis

Huang H, Lei R, Li Y, Huang Q, Gao N, Zou W (2021) · Medicine (Baltimore)

Comparison of the effectiveness of medicinal leech and TENS therapy in the treatment of primary osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized controlled trial

Isik M, Ugur M, Yakisan RS, Sari T, Yilmaz N (2017) · Zeitschrift für Rheumatologie

Efficacy and Safety of Hirudotherapy for Improving Sperm Quality Parameters in Male Infertility: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abtahi-Forooshani MS, Roozbehani S, Fatemi M, Noori A (2026) · Health Science Reports

Analgesic effect of medicinal leeches in chronic diseases

Aminov R (2025) · Annals of Parasitology

The role of leech water sampling in choice of prophylactic antibiotics in medical leech therapy

Wilmer A, Slater K, Yip J, Carr N, Grant J (2013) · Microsurgery

Leech Me Alone! Atraumatic Hemarthrosis after Hirudotherapy

Curcio J, Lloyd CM (2020) · Cureus

Low-Level Antimicrobials in the Medicinal Leech Select for Resistant Pathogens That Spread to Patients

Beka L, Fullmer MS, Colston SM, Nelson MC, Talagrand-Reboul E, Walker P, Ford B, Whitaker IS, Lamy B, Gogarten JP, Graf J (2018) · mBio

HIRUDOTHERAPY IN RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY: CASE-REPORTS AND REVIEW

Heinz P, Tvrdý P, Pink R, Dvořák Z, Michl P (2020) · Acta Chirurgiae Plasticae

Expert consensus

Hirudotherapy (medicinal leeches) for treatment of upper airway obstruction in a dog

Trenholme HN, Masseau I, Reinero CR (2021) · Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care

Hirudins and hirudin-like factors in Hirudinidae: implications for function and phylogenetic relationships

Müller C, Haase M, Lemke S, Hildebrandt JP (2016) · Parasitology Research

Diversity of hirudin and hirudin-like factor genes in the North-African medicinal leech, Hirudo troctina

Ahmed RB, Abilov A, Müller C (2024) · Parasitology Research

Monomeric and Oligomeric Decorsins of the Asian Medicinal Leech

Tolksdorf C, Wolf R, Rauch BH, Jedlitschky G, Müller C (2025) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Molecular Insights into Leech-Derived Bioactive Compounds: Biochemical Mechanisms and Therapeutic Potential

Raghavi S, Deva Darshini B, Saravanan KM, Anbarasu K (2026) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Novel Sodium Channel Inhibitor From Leeches

Wang G, Long C, Liu W, Xu C, Zhang M, Li Q, Lu Q, Meng P, Li D, Rong M, Sun Z, Luo X, Lai R (2018) · Frontiers in Pharmacology

In-depth profiles of bioactive large molecules in saliva secretions of leeches determined by combining salivary gland proteome and transcriptome data

Liu Z, Tong X, Su Y, Wang D, Du X, Zhao F, Wang D, Zhao F (2019) · Journal of Proteomics

Salivary transcriptome of the North American medicinal leech, Macrobdella decora

Min GS, Sarkar IN, Siddall ME (2010) · Journal of Parasitology

Leech (Hirudo medicinalis) Therapy for the Treatment of Nipple-Areolar Complex Congestion Following Breast Reduction

Freeman M, Carney M, Matatov T, Vemula R, Babycos C (2015) · Eplasty

Compromised breast flap treated with leech therapy, hyperbaric oxygen, pentoxifylline and topical nitroglycerin: A case report

Moffat AD, Weaver LK, Tettelbach WH (2015) · Undersea & Hyperbaric Medicine