The Wound Care Center uses a wide variety of treatments to provide you the best options available. You will work with the staff to develop a treatment plan based on your specific needs. Your treatment plan will include regular visits to the Wound Care Center to provide treatments and to evaluate your progress so that changes to the treatment plan can be made.
Treatments Available:
- Antibiotic Therapy – Medications used to address bacterial contamination of the wound
- Activity Plan – Physical activity promotes improved health by improving muscle mass, improving blood flow which positively impacts the healing of a wound and reducing pressure due to immobility
- Compression Therapy – The application of pressure dressings and wraps may reduce swelling of tissues and may promote proper venous blood drainage and arterial blood supply
- Debridement – this is the process of removing dead tissue from the wound bed in order to stimulate the wound bed and promote healing
- Diabetes Management – By working in collaboration with your doctor, the program can help to determine the best plan of action to control the impact diabetes has on your wounds, especially of the feet (diabetes affects small blood vessels and pain sensation due to the impact on nerves)
- Advanced Care Dressings – Specialty dressings, with and without advanced medication impregnation, are applied to absorb fluids or provide hydration and reduce bacterial contamination of the wound
- Education – The Wound Care Staff will provide information regarding ambulation and exercise, diet and nutrition, and self care
- Offloading – Reduction of pressure from bony area of the body and other areas creating pressure is important to address the underlying disorder of the wound itself
- Skin Grafts and Bioengineered Skin Substitutes – The physician staff can take a patient into the operating room for an autologous (graft is from the patient’s own skin) or in the Wound Care Center using a skin substitute product
- Wound Vaccum – “Wound Vac” – This treatment has proven to be very effective to reduce the and remove unnecessary fluid and bacteria from around your wound
- Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy – "HBOT” – This is a therapy that is available in the Wound Care Center. It is designed to deliver increased concentrations of oxygen directly to the wound site – oxygen rich blood is a necessary component to effective healing. Learn more >
For more information or to make an appointment, call Swedish Covenant Hospital's Wound Care Center at 773-989-6202, or email us at woundcarecenter@SwedishCovenant.org.
