Hospitals Seek Limb Preservation Programs For Non-Healing Foot Wounds

Hospitals Seek Limb Preservation Programs For Non-Healing Foot Wounds

Approximately 200,000 non-traumatic amputations occur in the United States each year.

As a comprehensive solution provider in the chronic wound healing space, our entire team is laser-focused on reducing that number. 

Our wound care solutions are designed to help hospitals, clinics, vascular centers, and physician practices of all sizes and scopes address the challenge posed by chronic lower extremity wounds, putting limb preservation at the forefront of our mission. 

This post will focus on HBOT in the treatment of patients with lower extremity wounds resulting from complications associated with atherosclerosis, ischemia, and peripheral artery disease. 

Here’s what we’re going to cover: 

• What are the clinical challenges with lower extremity wounds?
• What is the role of HBOT in limb preservation?
• What are the benefits for the patient and the community? 
• What does a comprehensive approach to limb preservation program look like in practice?
• How to choose the right limb preservation program for your organization

Let’s start by contextualizing the scope and challenges presented by lower extremity amputations.

What are the clinical challenges with lower extremity wounds?

The National Institutes of Health provided some eye-opening statistics surrounding lower extremity amputations: 

There are also a variety of therapeutic approaches to patients with limb-threatening ischemia; 25% undergo primary amputation, 25% undergo medical therapy, and only 50% undergo any attempt at revascularization. Nearly 50% of patients undergoing major amputation have not had a simple diagnostic arteriogram to assess the possibility of limb preservation.

Amputation should never be a first choice or a perceived unavoidable outcome, but it quite often still is - and we’re changing that one patient at a time.

What is the role of HBOT in limb preservation?

Chronic foot wounds and chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) resulting from atherosclerosis, ischemia, and PAD are, in part, characterized by a lack of adequate blood flow and reduced oxygen, or hypoxia, in tissue in the lower extremities. 

HBOT involves breathing oxygen at higher than normal pressures to increase the dissolved oxygen concentration in the blood and, consequently, the amount of oxygenated plasma dissolved in tissue in the wound area. This is one of the primary mechanisms of HBOT that promotes wound healing.

HBOT is a CMS-approved treatment for Wagner Grade 3 foot ulcers, and is proven to treat hypoxia. 

Dr. Louis Pilati MD, Medical Director of the Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine Center and  Beavercreek Health Park, points out that early treatment and a multidisciplinary approach are at the core of an effective HBOT-centric treatment program.

What does a comprehensive approach to limb preservation program look like in practice?

A comprehensive approach requires a multidisciplinary team of specialists, protocol-driven care planning, meticulous monitoring, and reporting on patient outcomes. As well as recommendations on program improvement, advanced educational resources, and physician and clinician mentoring. 

These are just some of the services we provide to help clients like you analyze, design, implement, and manage an HBOT treatment center:

• Evaluation of monoplace and multiplace hyperbaric chamber design, service, and support
• Web-based and classroom-based clinical education
• Highly trained, specialized hyperbaric technical staff to ensure compliance
• High-level domain expertise in hospital outpatient departmental integration
• Reimbursement and medical billing support, including public (Medicare/Medicaid) and private health insurance 
• Industry-leading community outreach tools and analytics

It all starts with education, and that process begins with your first consultation with our team.

What are the benefits for the patient and the community?

Physicians and patients with non-healing wounds in your community will benefit from the availability of a “one-stop-shop” referral option that eliminates the need for coordination of treatments, consultations, and wound specialists. 

These are just some of the CMS-approved indications for HBOT that you will be capable of treating:

• 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
• Actinomycosis, as an adjunct to conventional therapy when the disease process is refractory to antibiotics and surgical treatment
• Diabetic wounds of the lower extremities with the following conditions:
  • Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes and a lower extremity wound resulting from diabetes
  • A wound classified as Wagner grade III or higher
  • Patient has failed an adequate course of standard wound therapy

How do you choose the right limb preservation program for your organization?

It’s time to work together toward the significant reduction of lower extremity amputation rates, with non-invasive HBOT treatments as a viable alternative.

Let’s establish the right solution for wound care in your community.

Are you an owner, executive, or administrator in the planning phase of establishing a comprehensive wound care center, or perhaps re-evaluating your current wound management practice or program? 

Would you like to consider becoming a recognized wound care center of excellence in your community?

Or do you just have some questions about wound care and hyperbaric medicine? 

Regardless of your organization’s size, scope, and level of expertise, we’d love to share our 25 years of knowledge and experience with HBOT treatment centers with you. Get in touch with one of our HBOT thought leaders today.