Healing help: Using modern technology
when wounds won’t heal
Non-healing wounds can cause a tremendous amount of pain, and left untreated can lead to even more serious health problems and permanent disability.
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Dr. Michael Flood works with patients who are using hyperbaric
oxygen therapy to treat a non-healing wound. |
So when traditional healing treatments are ineffective, the Hyperbarics & Wound Care Center at Lancaster General is here to help patients on the road to recovery.
“When a wound hasn’t healed in 30 days using traditional medicine, it’s considered chronic,” says Garry Kauffman, Administrative Director, Renal Dialysis/Hyperbarics & Wound Care Center. At this point, more advanced techniques are considered.
“Advanced wound care has become its own specialty,” says Michael S. Flood, MD, Medical Director of the Wound Care Program. “With modern advances, wound care has taken a quantum leap from where it was even just a few years ago.”
Wounds can be treated one or more different ways at the Hyperbarics & Wound Care Center, including: specialized cleaning and dressing of the wound, use of negative pressure therapy (controlled suction applied to a wound to promote healing), antibiotics and medication, lifestyle changes to improve the body’s healing properties, or removal and replacement of the damaged tissue. Dr. Flood says recent advances include skin grafts that use re-grown human skin to repair the wound.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy One way to treat chronic non-healing wounds is with hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). This has been effective in treating:
- Diabetic foot ulcers
- Radiation injury
- Osteomyelitits, or bone infection
In HBOT, a patient rests in a pressurized hyperbaric chamber filled with 100% oxygen for 90 minutes a day, five days a week for 6-12 weeks, depending upon the severity of the wound.
“It takes some time, but patients will see visible improvement using hyperbaric oxygen therapy,” Dr. Flood says. He says pure oxygen diffuses into the blood and is able to reach the wound many times greater than normal.
| By Your Side |
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Betty Severson, RN
Patients preparing for hyper-
baric treatment first meet with
Betty, the Hyperbaric Safety
Leader. Betty handles schedul-
ing, preparation and safety for
each patient treated at the
Hyperbarics and Wound Care
Center.
“My main responsibility is the
safety of the patients,” Betty
says.“We are dealing with
pressurized 100% pure
oxygen, which needs to be
managed safely at all times.”
Betty works closely with the
doctors and gives monthly
safety in-services to staff,
while continuing her training
on the latest techniques.
For eight years, Betty’s
dedication to patient care
has been another
example of how Lancaster
General is by your side. |
“The pure oxygen helps grow blood vessels,” adds Garry, which is essential for helping the body heal, preserving damaged tissue and controlling infections. “It super-saturates your plasma with oxygen and delivers that oxygen to your wounds.”
The procedure is painless, and the Hyperbarics & Wound Care Center strives to make patients as comfortable as possible during treatment.
“The pressurized air in the see-through chamber feels a little bit like being in an airplane,” says Carolyn Masey, Clinical Manager for the Hyperbarics & Wound Care Center. During the treatment, patients can watch the TV or DVDs, listen to music, talk to staff or just take a nap. Precautions are taken to ensure that patients are safe while exposed to the pure oxygen.
“They make you as comfortable as they can,” adds Beverly Myers of Lititz, a Wound Care patient since 1999. “I like to bring a movie or just watch TV. It makes the time go much faster.”
Diabetic wound care
Bev is being treated for a heel wound initially caused by a poor fitting shoe and compounded by her diabetes.
“By the time I got to the Wound Care Center, the tendon was exposed,” she says. She’s had skin graphs and used various means to help the wound heal. But it really got a boost when she started the hyperbaric treatment. “It has come a long way.”
“One complication from diabetes is a loss of sensation in the feet,” Carolyn says. “As a result, a diabetic person may start to wear shoes that are too tight, or may injure his or her foot and not realize it. The diabetes prevents healing that can compound the injury and cause a diabetic foot ulcer. That is when patients usually need our care.”
On the first visit to the Wound Care Center, doctors review a patient’s medical history and conduct a physical exam for conditions that may impair wound healing. Once treatment begins, a patient’s wound is examined weekly, measured to determine the progress of the healing, or if alternative treatment is necessary.
Patients would see one of six doctors at the Hyperbarics & Wound Care Center, based upon the nature of their wound: Dr. Flood; Mark Evans, DPM, podiatrist; Daniel Mast, DO, internal medicine; Stacey Mazzacco, MD, vascular surgeon; David Winand, MD, vascular surgeon; or Steven Woratyla, MD, vascular surgeon.
Two centuries in the making
The technology behind hyperbarics actually has been around for nearly 200 years, says Dr. Flood. “It was originally used for divers working on the Brooklyn Bridge to help them decompress slowly and avoid developing the bends,” he says. “From that initial concept, it has evolved to become a treatment of choice for wound care today.”
“It’s been around for a long time,” adds Garry. “But only in the past 5-6 years has there been real evidence on just how effective hyperbaric oxygen therapy is for treating serious wounds that can’t heal on their own.”
Garry says a patient once described the procedure as “magic” after it healed a wound she’d suffered for three years. “Not too long ago, I would’ve believed the same thing.”
Hyperbarics is a major time commitment, especially when you have a full time job like Bev.
“It’s been a long journey, but I’m lucky,” Bev says. She lost her right leg in 1996 and has been working hard to save her left leg from an infection. “Without the Wound Care Center, I’m sure I would’ve gotten an infection in the bone and lost my other leg.”
Most patients are referred to the Wound Care Center through their personal physician. Self-referred patients are also accepted. For more information, visit us online at LancasterGeneral.org/Generally Speaking or call 544-3216.
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