Ding said a
plastic surgeon at the hospital recently referred a patient to the
center who had a compromised skin graft.
In people with diabetes, 15 percent of whom end up with foot ulcers,
the treatment can often prevent amputation, said nurse Eileen Curry,
the center's program manager and a certified wound specialist.
Bailey said in the beginning, he had to get used to the narrow,
36-inch-wide, clear-glass cylinder. The center has since acquired a
41-inch-wide machine, after the manufacturer, Anaheim, Calif.-based
Sechrist, began offering that size, which is the largest in the
industry.
"At least for me, there was a slight chill, but they do supply you
with blankets and pillows," Bailey said. "It was like a chill if you
left the window open in the winter."
Aside from hyperbaric oxygen therapy, the center also provides
specialized wound care techniques. The wounds are not the typical
cut, and some patients have had them for several months.
"There are over 3,000 wound care products on the market," Curry
said. "It takes a certain level of expertise because we do customize
it."
In the last three months, the center has seen 20 or more patients
per week, but there is the capacity to at least double that. Some
patients have come from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering and Mount Sinai
Medical Center cancer centers in New York.
The center receives several calls each day from people inquiring
about using hyperbaric oxygen therapy to treat everything from
autism to migraines. Ding said that while she treats such inquiries
seriously, she has to turn them down because the effects of oxygen
therapy for such issues have not been fully researched.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can also be used in cases of carbon
monoxide poisoning, but Ding said that is an emergency treatment,
and since the center is not staffed 24 hours a day, it doesn't
normally serve those cases.
While the center mostly provides outpatient services, Ding said the
staff is looking to improve overall care of wounds at the hospital.
A lot of times, the goal is to dress wounds, which often are seen
when the patient is in the hospital for other problems, Ding said.
Curry, who has
been in wound treatment for several years, and came to Greenwich
from the Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center at Norwalk
Hospital, said it is a growing specialty.
Chad, N'Djamena
Italy, Rome
Lithuania, Villinus
Kuwait, Kuwait City
Pueblo, Colorado
Indonesia, Jakarta City
Sweden, Stockholm
Czech Rep, Prague
Greece, Athens
Columbus, Ohio, USA
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