Wound Care
The hyperbaric and wound center at Holy Cross Hospital - Davis represents a comprehensive resource for treating people suffering from chronic, non-healing or difficult wounds.
About
Because each person is unique, we have brought together a highly skilled, multidisciplinary team to design and deliver the best solution for your care. Our staff will manage communication with your primary care physician, specialty care providers and home health agencies to ensure your overall well-being. We are located on the ground floor of the Robert Bitner Medical Office Building, on the Holy Cross Hospital – Davis campus, with convenient access to parking.
Our Services
For most people, wound healing is a natural, uneventful process. For some, however, it becomes a complex medical problem requiring specialized medical treatment. Typically, a wound that does not respond to normal medical care within 30 days is considered a problem or chronic wound.
After an initial evaluation, we provide each patient with an individualized plan to help heal these difficult wounds. A treatment plan may include advanced wound treatments, specialized compression wraps, bioengineered human tissue grafting, antibiotic treatments, negative pressure wound therapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Hyberbaric oxygen therapy
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is a specialized treatment that allows you to breathe pure oxygen inside a pressurized chamber. High concentrations of oxygen, ranging from 10 to 20 times normal, are delivered to the bloodstream, penetrating areas that oxygen-carrying red blood cells cannot reach.
HBOT helps revitalize tissues that receive poor blood flow and stimulates the growth of new blood vessels. Increased oxygen also enables more infection-fighting white blood cells to reach affected areas.
Hyperbaric therapy is painless, with air-pressure sensations similar to changing altitude in an airplane. Most patients watch movies or sleep during their treatments. A certified hyperbaric technologist (CHT) will monitor your treatment at all times and a physician will always be present.
Most patients require treatment over the course of several weeks to effectively treat wounds.
Skin grafting
The hyperbaric and wound center at Holy Cross Hospital - Davis is the first center in the western United States to provide a specialized epidermal harvesting system for skin grafting. Unlike traditional split-thickness skin grafting that requires the use of a much larger area of skin from the donor site, this technology offers a precise, simplified and minimally invasive option for wound closure.
Using a template lined with small holes, the tool warms up the skin and creates suction, adhering to a patient’s inner thigh. The heat and suction at the junction of the epidermis and dermis allows for removal of donor cells without injuring blood vessels and nerves.
The harvested skin tissue is placed on the wound and, as soon as the new skin roots to the damaged skin, the healing process begins. Unlike traditional skin grafting, the entire procedure is performed without anesthesia in a medical clinic. The harvesting site generally heals within one to two weeks and the transplant site closes 40 to 60% faster than untreated wounds.
Conditions We Treat
- Abscess and cellulitis
- Diabetic foot and leg ulcers
- Edema/leg swelling
- Mild burns
- Ostomy and ileostomy management
- Pressure ulcers
- Surgical wounds
- Ulcers from peripheral arterial disease (vascular ulcers)
- Venous leg ulcers
- Wounds associated with cancer or radiation treatment
- Wounds from autoimmune disorders
- Other hard to heal wounds
