Page 17 - Christiana Care Health System Focus September 2018

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Hyperbaric Safety Technician Dwight Davis, EMT, helps patient Debra Foster prepare for hyperbaric oxygen therapy at Christiana Care’s Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center
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helps patient Debra Foster prepare for hyperbaric oxygen therapy at Christiana Care’s Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center at Riverside Medical Arts Complex in Wilmington.
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She was frustrated and upset.
Her doctor sent her to Christiana Care Health System’s Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center, where she underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Although she needed another debridement procedure, the therapy worked.
“Eventually, thank God, the wound healed,” she said. “I was so happy. The staff there was fantastic.”
The need for wound care is on the rise. Partly that’s due to the increased incidence of diabetes and pre-diabetes, which can cause circulation issues. There are also higher rates of obesity, which can affect the body’s ability
to heal. Without proper care, unhealed wounds can cause serious health problems, including the need for amputation.
To meet the demand and assure quality care, Christiana Care has assumed full management of the Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center, which is in the Riverside Medical Arts Complex in Wilmington.
The refurbished center is now part of Christiana Care’s Surgical Services service line, and in June, Daniel D. Mast, D.O., became the center’s new medical director.
Dr. Mast has increased the number of physicians on the center’s panel, which is made up of Christiana Care doctors as well as physicians in the community.
The center will add a third hyperbaric chamber in the fall.
“With this increased capacity, we expect to improve patient access to the center and improve the overall experience for the patients we serve,” said Gerard J. Fulda, M.D., chair of the Department of Surgery and physician leader of the service line.
Many different needs for wound care
The Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center specializes in wounds Lthat haven’t healed for 30 days or more.
ike Foster, some patients seek treatment for non-healing wounds in areas that previously underwent radiation. Others have wounds related to diabetic ulcers, neuropathic ulcers — caused when people don’t feel the pain and continue to put pressure on a
vulnerable spot — immobility-related pressure sores, infections, chronic venous and arterial insufficiency (poor circulation), burns or vasculitis (a range of diseases caused by the inflammation of the blood vessels).
Some patients have complex soft-tissue wounds, traumatic wounds, infected wounds or non-healing surgical wounds.
There are many reasons why these wounds are slow to heal. Age can be a factor. Some patients have multiple medical conditions that complicate the healing process. Left untreated, these wounds are open to bacteria that can leadtoseriousinfections. CONTINUED
fter undergoing a surgical procedure to remove dead skin and tissue and clean the wound — a process called debridement — Debra Foster seemed better. Then, while vacationing in Puerto Rico, the wound reopened, and she was back to square one.
Daniel D. Mast, D.O.
FOCUS • SEPTEMBER 2018 15