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Healing wounds with "super" oxygen
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Jonathan Dykstra, MD
Medical director
Wound Healing Center
PeaceHealth Southwest
Specialty Clinic —
Mill Plain Campus
8716 E. Mill Plain Blvd.
Vancouver, WA 98668
360.514.HEAL (4325) |
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Jack relaxes on a bed encased by a large, see-through plastic shell. While watching videos or listening to music, Jack is surrounded by 100 percent oxygen at higher than normal atmospheric pressure. An intercom system allows him to stay in contact with technicians (and joke with the nurses).
This non-surgical, painless procedure, called hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO), allows oxygen molecules to pass through blood plasma more easily and speeds healing. HBO therapy is available at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center. It is so effective, it saved Jack's left foot from possible amputation. (You can read Jack's story and see photos at www.swmedicalcenter.org/myleftfoot.)
"HBO may be useful for wounds that haven't healed in 30 days despite multiple treatments, or for other medical conditions," explains Jonathan Dykstra, MD, medical director for the Wound Healing Center. These include:
- Diabetic ulcers
- Lower leg ulcers
- Bone infections
- Gangrene
- Radiation skin irritations
- Post-operative infected wounds
- Wounds from brown recluse spider bites
- Failing or compromised skin/muscle grafts or flaps
- Vascular disorders resulting in poor blood circulation
The Wound Healing Center uses HBO to treat patients referred by a variety of medical specialists. In most instances, Medicare, Medicaid and the majority of insurance plans cover HBO.
Learn more:
- Go to the Wound Healing Center's main webpage (www.swWoundHealing.org) to see what PeaceHealth Southwest's HBO chamber looks like and watch videos
- Call 360.514.HEAL (4325)
Published September 2009
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