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Innovative Wound Care Center Fills Urgent Need

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By LAURA FRAZIER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 20, 2008

BRANDON - Oneita Hill comes up one digit short when she counts the toes on her right foot, but the Seffner woman considers herself lucky to get to four.

Surgeons in September replaced a hardened artery in Hill's right leg, but her body rejected the artificial vessel. She said a serious infection, coupled with poor circulation complicated by diabetes, resulted in a skin ulcer that festered, spread and refused to heal.

To repair the damage, doctors amputated one of her toes and replaced the rejected artery with a vein from her left thigh. To promote healing and avoid additional amputations, Hill's doctors referred her to Brandon Wound Care, an outpatient department of University Community Hospital Carrollwood.

The state-of-the-art wound care center opened in November on Moon Avenue, where program director Edie Keating hosted an open house Feb. 7. Keating said it is the first and only comprehensive wound care center in southeastern Hillsborough County.

The main therapy room at the heart of the 7,000-square-foot facility houses four hyperbaric chambers, which are used to help heal wounds such as Hill's that don't respond to conventional treatment.

"The chamber saved me from losing all the toes on my right foot," Hill said.

Patients lie on a bed that slides inside the clear acrylic chamber, which is then sealed for the 90- to 120-minute treatments. Keating said some patients watch television or read, and others doze or chat through an intercom with family members and medical technicians.

Keating said pure oxygen circulating inside at double the normal atmospheric pressure serves as an antibacterial treatment and reduces swelling and edema, or swelling caused by the build-up of fluid. Being treated in the chamber also causes angiogenesis, a process that can generate new capillary buds in flesh that hasn't healed.

About 20 percent of Brandon Wound Care's patients are diabetics with slow-to-heal ulcers, Keating said. The center also treats people who have nonhealing surgical wounds, failed amputations and crush injuries.

Staff physician Palani Samy said people should seek medical treatment if they have a wound that exhibits redness, drainage or a foul odor. Those who experience a fever or see no significant improvements within two weeks also should consult a doctor, but some wounds won't wait that long.

"Diabetic patients should consult their physician or nurse practitioner for all wounds," Samy said.

Hill is halfway through a prescribed series of 40 treatments in the chamber. She said the treatment is pain-free and relaxing.

"I haven't felt anything different during treatment except my ears will pop sometimes," Hill said.

When she emerges, she said, "I can see a change in the circulation at the surface of my skin, and it feels like I have a little more energy. Plus, I can see the wounds healing more every day."

Keating said hyperbaric therapy can have remarkable results, but it requires a commitment on the part of the patient, who may need 20 to 40 consecutive daily treatments. The staff develops close relationships with many of the clients, and most are faithful about coming in daily.

"Our goal is to prevent amputations, so we have pretty good compliance," Keating said.

BRANDON WOUND CARE

WHAT: Physician-monitored outpatient wound care using hyperbaric medicine and other innovative therapies

WHERE: 205 S. Moon Ave., Suite 106, Brandon

HOURS: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday

INFORMATION: (813) 615-7100 or go to www.uch.org

Reporter Laura Frazier can be reached at (813) 657-4523 or lfrazier@tampatrib.com.

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