Advancements In Treating Chronic Radiation Tissue Injury (CRTI) & Soft Tissue Radionecrosis (STRN)
Do you have patients suffering from Chronic Radiation Tissue Injury (CRTI) & Soft Tissue Radionecrosis (STRN)?
If you answered yes to that question, we’d like to share some hope and good news about effective treatments for these debilitating side effects of radiation therapy. The first step in treating chronic wounds is information. In this post we’re going to cover:
- What causes soft tissue radionecrosis and chronic radiation tissue injury?
- Who is impacted by CRTI and STRN?
- How can Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy be used to treat STRN and CRTI?
- Where you can go for more information
So what causes CRTI and STRN?
The National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, provided some excellent guidance:
Soft tissue radionecrosis refers to the delayed effects of radiation therapy which result in tissue breakdown from the impaired blood supply radiation damaged tissue. Radiation can damage capillary beds and arterioles which lead to relative tissue hypoxia resulting in the characteristic fibrosis, and these tissue changes can develop over time, remote from the time of the original radiation exposure. The soft tissue radionecrosis can develop 6 months to several years after the exposure.
Tissues adjacent to the cancer cells in an irradiated region can become damaged and hypoxic months, and even years, after the radiation therapy. Hypovascularity in the damaged tissues can also lead to an increased risk of infection, tissue breakdown, and poor healing, resulting in chronic wounds and soft tissue damage.
Who is impacted by CRTI and STRN?
Tissues and blood vessels can be damaged by radiation therapy for all types of cancer. And while radiation therapy is highly recognized as an effective cancer treatment, there can be damaging side effects.
Radiation kills cancer cells in the targeted region, but it can also kill cells in the tissues surrounding the target area, including the endothelial cells that form blood vessels.
If you have patients who have had radiation therapy and are struggling with chronic, non-healing wounds, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) may be a game-changing, CMS-approved treatment as a part of a comprehensive treatment plan.
How can HBOT be used to treat STRN and CRTI?
Tissue hypoxia in chronic wounds can be treated by increasing the oxygenated plasma dissolved in tissue. As the lungs take in large amounts of pressurized oxygen at higher ambient pressures in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, the patient’s blood becomes more highly oxygenated. As the oxygen-rich blood circulates, it carries more oxygen to the affected areas, such as previously irradiated tissue that has developed a chronic wound.
Since the patient’s blood is more highly oxygenated, the increased oxygen can also stop and even reverse the effects of soft tissue damage from radiation therapy by stimulating the natural healing processes.
HBOT treatments can be life-changing for your patients.
So where can you go for more information?
Is it time to learn more about HBOT treatment solutions? At CūtisCare, our delivery models are designed to fill a critical void in the wound care, treatment, and healing space.
Could your hospital, practice, or clinic benefit from the most advanced, CMS-approved wound care capabilities available for STRN and CRTI?
The entire CūtisCare team is dedicated to pursuing exceptional patient outcomes through comprehensive, dynamic, cost-effective, compliant HBOT solutions. We provide hospitals, research facilities, clinics, and private practices nationwide with the solutions, physician mentoring, and support they need to treat chronic, non-healing wounds.
Do you have questions about wound care and Hyperbaric Medicine?
We have an entire team waiting to help you analyze, plan, design, and implement an HBOT treatment center of excellence in your community.
We’d love to share our 25 years of knowledge and experience with you. Get in touch with our team of doctors, clinicians, and allied health professionals online today.