Dear Saeid,
The attached resources may be helpful to you.
Best wishes,
P
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirudo_medicinalis#Medicinal_use
http://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/publications/previous-issues/cp-june-2014/hirudotherapy-a-guide-to-using-leeches-to-drain-blood-from-tissue/11136626.article
http://www.ctcpjournal.com/article/S1744-3881(09)00133-9/abstract
Leeches are segmented worms that belong to the phylum Annelida and comprise the subclass Hirudinea. Like the oligochaetes, such as earthworms, leeches share a clitellum and are hermaphrodites. Nevertheless, they differ from the oligochaetes in significant ways. For example, leeches do not have bristles and the external segmentation of their bodies does not correspond with the internal segmentation of their organs. Their bodies are much more solid as the spaces in their coelom are dense with connective tissues. They also have two suckers, one at each end.
The majority of leeches live in freshwater environments, while some species can be found in terrestrial and marine environments, as well. The best-known leeches, such as the medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis, are hematophagous, feeding on vertebrate blood and invertebrate hemolymph. Most leech species, however, are predatory, feeding primarily by swallowing other invertebrates. Almost 700 species of leeches are currently recognized, of which some 100 are marine, 90 terrestrial and the remainder freshwater taxa.
Leeches, such as the Hirudo medicinalis, have been historically used in medicine to remove blood from patients. The practice of leeching can be traced to ancient India and Greece, and continued well into the 18th and 19th centuries in both Europe and North America. In modern times, leeches are used medically in procedures such as the reattachment of body parts and reconstructive and plastic surgeries and, in Germany, treating osteoarthritis.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leech
Modern Leeching
TRANSCRIPT
Tales of the modern leech. I'm Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.
Bloodletting is no longer the cure-all remedy it once was. So Heidi Haugen of Sacramento, California, wonders why a form of that ancient science can still be found in state-of-the-art hospitals.
Haugen:
Why are leeches used in modern medicine?
Well, Heidi, we asked Bill Lineaweaver, a surgeon at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He says leeches are often the best option for safely removing congested blood from a wound.
Lineaweaver:
Leeches are used in modern medicine because they work. They're an extremely effective artificial vein in certain situations where uh, a body part such as a finger has been replanted after an amputation, but only the arterial side is working. The, the leech then serves as an artificial vein by drawing off the excess blood or the congested blood, until the person can actually grow back small, venous capillaries.
He says some modern techniques for drawing off excess blood result in too much blood loss. Leeches, though, are considered to be a cost effective, more efficient, and less damaging alternative.
If you've got a question along scientific vein, call us at 1-800-WHY-ISIT. If we use it on the show, you'll get a free Science Update mug. For the American Association for the Advancement of Science, I'm Bob Hirshon.
http://sciencenetlinks.com/science-news/science-updates/modern-leeching/
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