Overview
If you or someone you love has a wound that won’t heal, Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital’s Wound & Hyperbaric Center can help. We’re dedicated to healing chronic wounds, preventing lower limb loss and optimizing outcomes for our patients.
If you have a wound that is of concern or is not healing properly, you may have what is referred to as a complex or non-healing wound. Often complicated by underlying conditions such as diabetes, circulation problems or previous radiation treatment, the simplest of wounds can turn into a significant problem because the body’s normal healing process is affected. Other types of hard-to-heal wounds result from pressure, trauma or infection.
Complex or non-healing wounds can have serious health consequences and may adversely affect your quality of life.
As a comprehensive wound healing center, we specialize in the treatment of all types of non-healing and difficult-to-heal wounds including:
- Diabetic foot ulcers
- Venous ulcers
- Pressure ulcers
- Non-healing, surgical wounds
- Arterial/ischemic ulcers
- Post-radiation injury to tissue or bone
- Traumatic wounds
- Infected wounds
- Crush injuries
- Compromised flaps or grafts
Services
Wound Care Treatment Plans
Our approach to wound care is aggressive and comprehensive, coordinating traditional and advanced therapies and techniques that are proven to reduce healing time and improve healing rates. Since non-healing wounds rarely result from a single cause, we begin with a thorough evaluation and diagnostic testing to determine the underlying cause of the wound. A treatment plan is then developed to give patients the best chance for healing.
Most treatments are covered by Medicare/Medicaid, HMOs and other private insurance.
Depending on the type of wound, the treatment plan may include:
- Infection control
- Restoration of blood flow
- Debridement (removal of dead tissue)
- Offloading
- Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy
- Skin substitutes
- Compression therapy
- Foot reconstruction
- Skin graft or flap
What Can Our Wound Care Patients Expect?
Your course of treatment depends on what type of wound you have. During your first visit, our staff will evaluate your wound and review your medical history. You may also need special tests that give us information about circulation and infection. This will help to determine what course of treatment you will need.
Once a treatment plan has been prescribed, you will visit the wound healing center weekly for specialized treatments and documentation of your healing progress. Keeping appointments and following directions are critical to attaining a positive healing outcome.
Some things you can do to assist with your healing:
- Care for your wound at home as directed by the wound care team
- Take medications as directed
- Return for your follow-up appointments
- Keep regular appointments with your primary care physician while you are receiving wound care treatment
Following your treatment is the single most important factor in your healing. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at 330.588.4694 to learn more about our doctors or treatment plans. We’re happy to clarify anything you feel uncertain about regarding the wound care treatment process.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) is a treatment in which the patient breathes 100 percent pure oxygen while inside a pressurized chamber. The air pressure inside a hyperbaric oxygen chamber is about two and a half times greater than the normal pressure in the atmosphere. This hyperbaric (or high pressure) dose of oxygen helps your blood carry more oxygen to your organs and tissues to promote wound healing. It also activates the white blood cells to fight infection.
Patients typically receive hyperbaric oxygen therapy five days a week for approximately four to six weeks. One treatment takes about two hours and is quite comfortable for most patients.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy may be used as part of the treatment for certain conditions, including the following:
- Non-healing wounds, such as diabetic foot ulcers
- Chronic bone infection (chronic refractory osteomyelitis)
- Injury to skin or bone as a side effect from radiation therapy
- Non-healing skin grafts and flaps
- Crush injuries
- Carbon monoxide poisoning
- Sudden sensorineural hearing loss
- Central retinal artery occlusion
A Mercy Hospital caregiver will tell you how many treatments you will need. During your treatment, you may watch television, a movie or take a nap. You will be given a hospital gown to wear in the chamber. No cosmetics, perfumes, hair preparations, deodorants, wigs, jewelry or electronic devices are allowed in the chamber. Most pacemakers are allowed in the chamber. The hyperbaric technologist will need to know if you are taking any medications, including non-prescription drugs. You are advised not to drink alcohol or carbonated beverages for four hours prior to treatment.
Smoking and the use of tobacco products interfere with the body’s ability to transport oxygen. Therefore, your doctor will work with you on techniques to help you stop smoking during the treatment period. Following your treatment plan is the single most important factor in your healing.
Our Team
Our wound healing center is staffed with a multidisciplinary team of physicians, along with nurses and technicians with advanced training in wound care, who will customize the most effective treatment plan to stimulate healing. Comprised of general physicians, vascular and plastic surgeons, podiatrists and infectious disease physicians, our team is dedicated to providing the most advanced healing options to patients, allowing them to recover as quickly and completely as possible.
As wound healing specialists, our clinicians have a proven track record of healing wounds – even those that have not responded to other treatments.
The Wound Care Center Team will work closely with your personal physician in managing your wound care. After completing your wound care treatments, your personal physician will resume your medical care.
Appointments
Wound & Hyperbaric Center
Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital
1320 Mercy Drive, NW
Canton, OH 44708
330.588.4694
