Tufts Medical Center has partnered with The Center for Wound Healing to bring state-of-the-art treatment to the Boston area.
For more than 5 million Americans today, everyday activities are a challenge because of wounds that won't heal. Chronic, or nonhealing, wounds affect every aspect of their lives, from walking to grocery shopping to getting a good night's sleep.
The Center for Wound Healing is a subsidiary of New York Hyperbaric and Wound Care Centers. They currently manage over 20 wound centers in the Northeast. These centers provide multidisciplinary treatment for all types of chronic wounds, including:
Hyperbaric Treatments
Some wounds will meet the criteria for treatment with hyperbaric oxygen. This is medical treatment that allows patients to breathe 100 percent oxygen while inside a pressurized chamber. Typically, patients feel no differently than when they are lying in bed. These treatments last about two hours.
While in the chamber, patients may listen to music, watch television or movies on a VCR, or nap. The use of 100 percent oxygen delivered at increased pressure results in increased amounts of oxygen delivered to organs, tissues and most importantly, the wound. This promotes the healing process for chronic wounds. Typically, it takes several weeks of daily treatments to heal the wound.
Hyperbaric treatment provides beneficial healing effects for many conditions including:
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Diabetic foot ulcers and pressure ulcers
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Refractory osteomyelitis, or infection in the bone
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Radiation tissue damage
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Gangrene – a condition where the tissues die or are severely damaged
The Treatment Team
The care team at The Center for Wound Healing is lead by Mark Iafrati, MD, a vascular surgeon on the Tufts Medical Center staff. His team includes physicians practicing in various medical specialties, as well as nursing staff with special training in wounds, ostomy, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
These physicians, nurses and technicians work in collaboration with each patient's primary or referring physician and the Visiting Nurses to develop a comprehensive plan of care.