Wound Healing
(now located inside the Community Health Center of WCCH; 703 Cypress Street, Suite A)
For many, wound healing requires more than just bandages and ointment -it requires the expertise of wound healing specialists with over 100 years of combined healthcare experience. The hospital-based outpatient wound care and hyperbaric oxygen therapy program at the Wound Healing Center of West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital (WCCH) is centered on the treatment of chronic and non-responsive wounds.
The most common conditions treated by our center include:
• Diabetic wounds/ulcers
• Slow healing wounds (wounds that have not shown improvement after 4 weeks)
• Osteomyelitis
• Necrotizing Fasciitis
• Radiation Injuries (i.e. Osteoradionecrosis)
• Compromised skin grafts
• Gangrene
• Non-healing surgical wounds
• Chronic Wounds
• Venous and arterial wounds
• Pressure ulcers
• Burns
• Crush Injuries
Treatments that are offered by the center include:
• Specialized Wound Dressings
• Contact Casting
• Skin Grafts
• Negative Pressure Therapy
• Compression Therapy
• Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT)
What is hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT)?
HBOT is the delivery of 100% oxygen under increased atmospheric pressure to the whole body to treat basic diseases and the processes that cause them. The dose varies according to the particular disease or problem being treated.
How is HBOT accomplished?
Experienced physicians, nurses and hyperbaric technicians use pressurized chambers to administer treatments. Patients rest comfortably on a stretcher inside the chamber while they are slowly pressurized with pure oxygen, two or three times that of normal atmospheric pressure. They watch TV, rest or sleep while breathing healing oxygen. Patients can come out within a few minutes if there is an emergency.
How long do HBOT treatments last?
Treatments are usually given daily, Monday through Friday, for 20 to 30 treatments. Each treatment lasts about two hours from start to finish.
What are the benefits of HBOT?
HBOT activates leukocyte or white blood cell bacterial killing power. HBOT replenishes low oxygen tissue with white blood cells to improve tissue growth. This method works better than topical oxygen or oxygen administered by mask or through the nasal passage. HBOT reduces edema (fluid buildup in tissue) and inflammation, supporting cellular resuscitation and promoting healing of injured tissue.
What types of conditions are treated with HBOT?
HBOT helps heal injuries and wounds resulting in inadequate oxygen delivery anywhere in the body- from skin, internal organs, and brain and nervous system to bone. It is used most often in cases of:
• Acute carbon monoxide intoxication
• Decompression illness
• Gas embolism
• Gas gangrene
• Acute traumatic peripheral ischemia
• Crush injuries and suturing of severed limbs
• Progressive necrotizing infections
• Acute peripheral arterial insufficiency
• Preparation and preservation of compromised skin grafts
• Chronic refractory osteomyelitis, unresponsive to conventional medical and surgical management
• Osteoradionecrosis as an adjunct to conventional treatment
• Soft tissue radionecrosis as an adjunct to conventional treatment
• Cyanide poisoning
• Actinomycosis, only as an adjunct to conventional therapy when the disease process is refractory to antibiotics and surgical treatment
• Diabetic wounds of the lower extremities if all of these apply:
- You have Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes and have a lower extremity wound that's due to diabetes.
- You have a wound classified as Wagner grade Ill or higher.
- You've failed an adequate course of standard wound therapy.
Our nationally accredited care, expertise, and technology mean we can heal almost any wound— even those that won’t respond to conventional treatment. If you have a wound that isn’t healing, don’t ignore it. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call (337) 310-0395.