Let the Healing Begin

The new Baylor Wound and Hyperbaric Medicine Center offers specialized care.

The human body is amazing. Given time and care, cuts heal, broken bones knit together and torn muscles become strong once again.

But sometimes the body needs a little help. Blood supply and oxygen are crucial to successful healing, yet conditions such as diabetes, poor circulation, trauma, vascular disease and immobility impede the body's ability to deliver these to the injury site. Certain medications also can slow the healing response. The result? Chronic, non-healing wounds.

Left untreated, chronic wounds can result in infection and possibly amputation. Healing them requires specialized care-the kind of care available at the new Baylor Wound and Hyperbaric Medicine Center at Baylor Medical Center at Garland.

Comprehensive Wound Care
Opened in July, this outpatient facility is located on the Baylor Garland campus in Medical Office Building II. The staff includes doctors, nurses and therapists who specialize in advanced methods for healing chronic wounds.

"We wanted to bring comprehensive wound care services to residents of Garland, Richardson and surrounding areas so they can access these services closer to home," says James Ashbaugh, the center's program director.

"With a multidisciplinary approach, we are able to expediently and cost-effectively get complex wounds to heal," says Trent Proffitt, M.D., a vascular surgeon on the medical staff at Baylor Garland and medical director of the new Baylor Wound and Hyperbaric Medicine Center.

Advanced Treatments
After a thorough evaluation, the staff devises an individualized treatment plan for the patient that can include anything from medication to sessions in one of the center's two hyperbaric oxygen chambers.

"With specific therapies we can affect the whole wound-care environment, even down to the cellular level," Dr. Proffitt says.

Hyperbaric therapy speeds healing by exposing the wound to an atmosphere of 100 percent oxygen under high pressure, encouraging oxygenation of the tissues around the wound. Patients sit or lie in the chamber for prescribed periods, usually on a daily basis, until healing has sufficiently progressed.

In addition, the center will coordinate with a patient's primary physician to treat diabetes, vascular problems and other underlying conditions to prevent the recurrence of chronic wounds.

"This is a fascinating and exciting time in wound care," says Dr. Proffitt.

By Deborah Paddison

Treatment at the Baylor Wound and Hyperbaric Medicine Center at Baylor Garland is through physician referral. To find a physician on the medical staff at Baylor Garland, call 1-800-4BAYLOR or use our on-line physician directory.