Medical Leeches

Imagine you’ve just had reconstructive surgery to reattach a finger or graft some skin onto a badly burned part of your body and in comes a nurse with a medical device to help your wound heal. You look at the tray and see a vial of greenish-black leeches. And it’s FDA-approved! Reconstructive surgeon Jeffrey Janis at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center has developed some recommendations for using leeches safely. (Originally aired May 19th, 2020)