A patient undergoes hyperbaric oxygen treatment at the Center for Advanced Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center, Camden.
Everyone experiences cuts, scrapes, sores, and blisters, usually of the kind that heal readily with little care or concern. However, for some people time does not heal all wounds. People with certain physical conditions may find it difficult to recover from even a minor wound. In fact, every year, millions of Americans experience wounds that fail to heal, as a result of diabetes, poor circulation, long-term immobilization, or other conditions or situations. For some of these individuals, wounds don’t heal even after many months.
A wound or sore that won’t heal is more than a nuisance. It can be frightening, and with good reason. The longer a wound takes to heal, the greater the risk of serious infection. Individuals who have diabetes or other conditions that weaken their immune, healing, nervous, or circulatory systems, in particular, are especially prone to this risk of complications from minor wounds. One of the most common types of wounds that resists healing is the ulcer.
Persons with chronic, untreated wounds are at risk for pain and disability. Uncontrolled wounds can lead to gangrene and thus amputation; or to sepsis (systemic spread of infection with blood toxicity), an extremely dangerous condition.
| Do you have diabetes? When were you last examined? Do you know the connection between diabetes and foot ulcers? |
| Saving life and limb: Many patients who receive specialized care for chronic wounds experience healing in just a few months. |
Pursuing Conservative Care But Providing Top-Level Capabilities When Surgery is Necessary
Patients whose wounds have failed to respond to standard medical-surgical management need specialized care with highly trained professionals to prevent the wound from progressing and to heal the wound. Traditionally, though, health resources have not served this group of patients well. The good news is that this is changing: Increasingly, patients with these conditions can turn to dedicated wound-care physicians who employ the most sophisticated treatment protocols. Lourdes Health System, for example, offers wound-care specialists and dedicated wound-care units at both of its hospital campuses.
The expert staff at Lourdes’s advanced wound care centers provides both surgical and nonsurgical care. Staff members at these facilities seek to resolve nonhealing wounds and to help patients understand how to prevent their recurrence. The teams pursue the least invasive forms of care that are appropriate for each case first. Patients who require surgery, though, benefit from the very highest level of skill and experience provided by Lourdes general surgeons who are subspecialized in wound care and accomplished in this field.
Choose from Multiple Sites
The Center for Advanced Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine at Our Lady of Lourdes in Camden and The Wound Healing Center at Lourdes Medical Center Burlington County provide staffing, equipment and know-how that make them the area’s service of choice for patients suffering form hard-to-heal wounds. The physicians and nurses at these outpatient clinics have advanced education in wound management. They deliver comprehensive, individualized and caring intervention, and use the latest technology.
Treating thousands of patients annually, these wound-healing centers employ the most advanced techniques and tools. The Lourdes centers heal—over the course of a few months—the vast majority of the wounds they treat. The care helps patients avoid more involved and invasive treatments, including surgery when possible, and to avoid systemic spread of infection.
The center accepts most insurance plans. Their staffs can answer questions regarding insurance and any referrals needed for an appointment.
Learn more about Lourdes’ wound-care services:
Learn more about Lourdes’ two wound centers, both of which offer hyperbaric oxygen therapy:
