Wound Care

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Our approach to care is physician-driven and involves providers from multiple specialties. This ensures that our treatments have high success rates and that patients can heal quickly and effectively.

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Sometimes, a wound is as simple as a paper cut or a scraped knee. This type of wound is usually minor and may be able to clear up on its own without needing more than a bandage or a little antiseptic cream.

However, there are some wounds that require more specialized treatment from a team of experts in wound care. That’s where the Stormont Vail Wound Care Center steps in.

The Wound Care Center offers patients access to top-notch outpatient wound care as well as hyperbaric medicine. We specialize in advanced wound care using clinical treatments, therapies and support services to treat chronic wounds.

Conditions We Treat

Diabetic Ulcers

Neuropathic & Ischemic Ulcers

Pressure Ulcers

Surgical & Traumatic Wounds

Venous Insufficiency

Treatment Options

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT)Collapse

In order to function correctly, your body’s tissues require an adequate oxygen supply. Wounded or damaged tissue needs even more oxygen.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy helps your wounded tissues function more efficiently by increasing the amount of oxygen that can be carried through your blood and delivering about 15 to 20 times more than the normal amount of oxygen to your tissues. This helps you heal and also prevents infection.

During HBOT, you will lay down in an enclosed chamber and breathe in pure oxygen. The air pressure in the chamber is increased to three times higher than normal, allowing your lungs to gather more oxygen than they would normally be able to at regular air pressure.

If you have any of these conditions, your provider may recommend HBOT:

Diabetic ulcers (sores) in the feet or legs
Non-healing wounds
Skin or bone infection
Burns
Skin grafts or flaps that are at risk for tissue death
Soft tissue radionecrosis (tissue breakdown from radiation therapy) or osteoradionecrosis (bone death from radiation therapy)
Chronic refractory osteomyelitis (recurring bacterial infection in the bone or bone marrow)
Actinomycosis (long-lasting infection caused by the Actinomyces israelii bacteria, that usually affects the neck and face)
Crushing injury (force or pressure put on the body)
Arterial gas embolisms (air-filled bubbles instead of your blood vessels)
Gangrene (death of body tissue due to a serious bacterial infection or lack of blood flow to the tissue)

Wound Dressings

Common dressings include:

Clear films or gels protect pressure sores in the earliest stages when they do not have much drainage. These dressings are changed every three to seven days.
Hydrocolloid patches are placed on sores to keep in oxygen and moisture. They protect sores with light or moderate drainage. These patches are changed every three days but may need to be changed more often if they become too full of fluid.
Alginates are pads, ribbons and ropes made from seaweed. They are used on pressure sores that have a lot of drainage. These dressings are changed every seven days but must be changed earlier if they become too fluid-filled.
Foam dressings are used on sores with any amount of drainage. There are waterproof versions, which protect pressure sores from sweat, urine and feces. These must be changed every three to four days.

Health Library

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