Chronic Wounds & Heart-Health Focused Care | CūtisCare

February is American Heart Month 

For the past 59 years, we've honored February as American Heart Month, a time dedicated to heart health awareness, education, and advocacy. The healthcare community unites around awareness campaigns nationwide, like that of the American Heart Association's Go Red For Women campaign and National Go Red Day (Friday, February 4th); spreading the message that heart disease is a growing problem facing our community.

The leading cause of death for men and women in the U.S, Heart Disease is often a silent killer, manifesting in the form of comorbidities, or the simultaneous presence of multiple chronic diseases.

Some heart and cardiovascular disease manifestations include coronary artery disease, aka CAD, and its close cousin peripheral artery disease, or PAD. 

But what is PAD? From the heart health experts at the American Heart Association:

Peripheral artery disease is similar to coronary artery disease (CAD).

Peripheral artery disease is a narrowing of the peripheral arteries that carry blood away from the heart to other parts of the body. The most common type is lower-extremity PAD, in which blood flow is reduced to the legs and feet. 

Both PAD and coronary artery disease are caused by atherosclerosis, the buildup of fatty plaque in the arteries that narrows and blocks them throughout the body, including in the heart, brain, arms, legs, pelvis and kidneys.

Additionally, we now know that coronary and peripheral artery disease in patients with diabetes can cause severe neurovascular complications, including amputations and other chronic issues. However, there is hope. Chronic wounds resulting from, or exacerbated by, peripheral artery disease can also be effectively treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or HBOT. When patients are combating heart disease, poor heart health, and comorbidities like diabetes, these conditions can result in chronic wounds, chronic foot ulcers, and potentially in lower extremity amputations, in addition to other harmful effects. In fact, According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI):

Over 150,000 people undergo amputations of the lower extremity in the United States each year.[1] This incidence is directly proportional to rates of peripheral arterial occlusive disease, neuropathy, and soft tissue sepsis.[2] This correlation is due to the increased incidence of diabetes mellitus, which is present in eighty-two percent of all vascular-related lower extremity amputations in the United States.    

As a result many health care professionals have started adding hyperbaric medicine to their treatment plans to reduce amputation rates and ensure that their patients are receiving the best care available. 

Life-saving and life-altering treatments are available for most forms of cardiovascular disease and their complications, including chronic wounds. 

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, or HBOT, can be utilized as a critical component in a comprehensive treatment plan to reduce or reverse some of the effects of chronic wounds caused or complicated by PAD. 

Could your hospital, practice, or clinic benefit from improved wound care capabilities?

See what patients are saying about the life-changing value of these treatments. 

Our team is laser-focused and passionate about facilitating exceptional patient outcomes through flexible, economical, and innovative HBOT solutions. We are a healing-centric, compliance-driven organization providing innovative, effective, purpose-built clinical solutions for wound care and treatment.  

In a nutshell, we provide hospitals, research facilities, clinics, and private practices nationwide with the integrated partnership they need to implement comprehensive wound care practices and solutions. 

Are you in the planning phase of establishing a comprehensive wound care center or perhaps re-evaluating your current wound management service line or practice? Would you like to become a recognized wound care center of excellence? Are you looking to better serve your diabetic and vascular compromised patients to improve limb preservation, then a hyperbaric solution may be just what your community needs.

Or do you just have some questions about wound care and Hyperbaric Medicine? 

Either way, we’d love to share our 25 years of knowledge and experience with you. Get in touch with one of our HBOT thought leaders today.