Overview
Cleveland Clinic’s Wound Healing Center offers wound care management in an outpatient setting. Several facilities feature hyperbaric oxygen chambers. The center uses a multi-disciplinary approach to wound healing and provides complete wound care services to those suffering from diabetic ulcers, pressure ulcers, compromised skin grafts and flaps or wounds that haven’t healed within 30 days.
Cleveland Clinic's Wound Healing Center offers specialized and advanced treatments, resources and options to help patients get on the road to healing.
Treatments & Services
Diabetes related wounds
The most common chronic complication of diabetes is diabetic neuropathy, a serious nerve disorder that affects the legs and feet, and causes ulcerations, infections and, in advanced cases, amputation.
Without proper prevention or early detection with proper treatment, diabetic neuropathy can lead to severe complications.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is a medical treatment in which the body is exposed to 100% oxygen while under increased atmospheric pressure. HBOT must be used in addition to standard wound care and is usually recommended when there are no measurable signs of healing after 30 days of standard wound care.
During treatment, patients can sit back, relax, nap or watch a movie; the only physical sensation that may be felt l is slight pressure in the eardrums.
HBOT is used to treat a variety of conditions:
- Crush injuries and severed limbs.
- Chronic refractory osteomyelitis (persistent bone infection after treatment for osteomyelitis).
- Osteoradionecrosis (radiation injury to the bone).
- Injury to the soft tissue caused by radiation.
- Actinomycosis (inflamed tissue in the mouth or jaw).
- Diabetic wounds of the lower extremities in people who:
- Have type I or type II diabetes and a lower extremity wound that is due to diabetes.
- Have a wound classified as Wagner grade III or higher, which could be classified as gangrene.
- Have received an unsuccessful course of standard wound therapy.
An evaluation for HBOT will be conducted.
Lower extremity wounds
The Wound Healing Center uses a broad-based approach to treat wounds by a comprehensive team of experts.
The first step is to find the underlying cause of the problem. Lower extremity wounds, such as leg and foot sores, can be caused by one or a combination of problems including poor circulation, diabetes and other medical problems.
Negative pressure therapy
Negative pressure wound therapy (NWPT) is a type of wound care treatment that can be used for wounds on most parts of the body.
Scars
The skin is a seamless organ protecting the body from infection. Throughout our lives we have experiences that injure our skin, leaving behind a scar. Scars depend on many factors.
Types of Wounds
Persistent non-healing wounds come in many forms. Depending on the type of wound your physician will prescribe a different course of treatment. Some wounds, such as pressure sores, diabetic ulcers, and vascular ulcers may require surgical debridement, which is the removal of weakened or dead tissue. Reconstructive surgery is also a possibility for wound repair.
Diabetic wounds
Diabetic wounds and ulcers often occur on lower extremities and are frequently associated with diabetic neuropathy also known as a decrease in sensation. Diabetic ulcers can be quite severe and sometimes lead to surgical amputation. Diabetic wounds often require management by more than one physician. A surgeon will work in conjunction with your care team if surgery to remove or reconstruct the wound is necessary.
Neoplastic wounds
Skin and soft tissue cancers related to chronic wounds are a frequently under-recognized cause of non-healing. The appearance of a cancerous wound can be fairly unexceptional; as such chronic non-healing wounds that have not responded to traditional wound care regimens benefit from assessment by a wound specialist. The wound care specialist may biopsy, or sample, the soft tissue of the wound for further analysis.
Pressure ulcers
Pressure ulcers develop when external pressure over a bony area cuts off the supply of oxygen and nutrients to soft tissue like skin or muscle. This results in tissue damage. Over time, issues can range from treatable wounds to outright death of the tissue.
The skin is more tolerant of pressure than the underlying fat and muscle. Pressure-related skin changes are the “tip of the iceberg” compared with the extent of the underlying tissue damage. Common locations for pressure ulcers can be the lower back, tail bone, buttocks, heels, back of the head, and the sitting bones.
Radiation related wounds
Radiation-induced tissue injury is a common side-effect of radiation therapy. Tissue changes can occur suddenly or long after therapy is completed and usually appears at the site of treatment but can also appear in the soft tissue nearby.
Radiation related wounds can also develop because of minor trauma to the radiated tissue. Surgical incisions located on or near radiated tissue may have difficulty closing, resulting in non-healing wound.
For some patients, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) can be prescribed in addition to conventional medical and surgical care for radiation related tissue injury.
Vascular wounds
Vascular ulcers are wounds which usually occur below the knee as a result of a decreased blood flow and can affect one or both legs. Vascular ulcers are common in patients who have a history of swelling in their legs, varicose veins, or blood clots. Like diabetic ulcers, management usually requires more than one doctor – for example, a surgeon will work together with a patient's care team if surgery is required.
Locations
The Cleveland Clinic Wound Healing Center offers a variety of services throughout the healthcare system. There are several dedicated locations around the region that focus specifically on a multi-disciplinary approach to wound healing.
Appointments
Wound services are available at these Cleveland Clinic locations:
- Euclid Hospital*
216.692.0125 - Hillcrest Hospital
440.312.3811 - Lutheran Hospital
216.363.5790 - Medina Hospital
330.721.5126 - South Pointe Hospital
216.491.7111 - Akron General
330.344.5760 - Avon Lake Family Health Center
440.930.6800 - Beachwood Family Health and Surgery Center
216.839.3000 - Independence Family Health Center
216.986.4000 - Marymount Hospital
216.581.0500 - Mercy Hospital
330.588.4694 - Strongsville Family Health and Surgery Center
440.878.2500 - Stephanie Tubbs Jones Health Center
216.767.4242 - Union Hospital
330.365.3880 - Wooster Family Health & Surgery Center
330.287.4500
*Same-day consultations available.
