NWTH Hyperbaric Certified Nurse, Shauna Webster, RN, sat down with NBC's Jason Britsch to talk about chronic wound care awareness.
What wounds are considered chronic wounds? They are wounds that are not healing after 30 days. Etiologies are Diabetic ulcers of the lower extremity and feet, venous ulcerations, pressure ulcers, arterial ulcers, autoimmune disorders, and some cancers to name a few.
How do you treat chronic wounds? NWTH treats first with the cause, the etiology. They use clinical standards of care and evidenced-based medicine along with advanced modalities to direct the care they give to each patient and each wound individually to help them heal.
Advanced modalities used at NWTH: Debridement to remove dead tissue, diagnostics to determine infection and ABX if needed. They also use advanced dressings, total contact casting for offloading, skin substitutes, and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.
Hyperbaric therapy is delivered with a pressurized chamber at 2.0-2.4 atmospheres that a patient goes into. The patient breathes 100% medical grade oxygen which promotes collagen formation and angiogenesis (the building of new tissue and blood vessels).
It also acts as a bactericide for certain susceptible bacteria. It increases the concentration of the dissolved oxygen in the blood which augments oxygenation to all parts of the body.
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