Center Specializes in Healing
Wound Center takes care of the good, the bad and the ugly wounds - mostly the really bad and the really ugly.

Click here to view this story as it appeared in the Morganton News Herald (Includes additional graphics and information) in pdf format.

BY ANNA WILSON

FOR THE NEWS HERALD

When Maxine Merrill decided to take on responsibility for her niece’s dog, she had no idea the 10-pound Shih Tzu would almost cause her to lose a leg.

In an unprovoked attack, Sparky bit Maxine on her hand and leg. She received five stitches in her hand, but the puncture wound on her leg didn’t look that bad. She was given antibiotics to take care of any infection that could develop.

Unfortunately, the medication Maxine routinely takes for rheumatoid arthritis also suppresses her immune system, making it hard for her body to fight infection. “I think that’s why my leg didn’t heal,” she said. “All the antibiotics probably kept me from getting gangrene, but the wound was still in bad shape.”

As it turned out, Maxine did get an infection deep inside her calf. Her doctor referred her to Blue Ridge HealthCare’s Comprehensive Wound Healing Center at Valdese Hospital.

The Wound Center opened early summer 2005, and doctors specializing in non-healing wounds have been seeing patients on a steady basis. Dog bites aren’t the only source of problem wounds.

Within 20 miles of Valdese Hospital, there are about 9,000 people suffering from some sort of chronic, non-healing wounds, according to Praxis, a leading national provider of wound healing services and Blue Ridge HealthCare’s partner in the new center. Diabetes, blood vessel disease, anemia, malnutrition, surgery, chemical burns, pressure-related sores, and bacterial infections can cause non-healing wounds.

The Wound Center features a wide range of therapies, and treats patients who have wounds or sores that haven’t healed during a four-to-six-week period. These wounds can cause considerable pain, suffering and loss of function. They are often difficult to treat, but area physicians can now refer their patients to the Wound Center for specialized care locally.

The specially trained care team assesses non-healing wounds and designs the right plan for treatment. Maxine’s plan of care included hospitalization and frequent debridement, which is surgical removal of damaged or infected tissue.

One physician who trained in Texas with Praxis is Gowri Sathiraju, MD. She treated Maxine at the Wound Center. “When I first saw her, she was very concerned about my leg,” Maxine said. “I could have lost my leg. It was deteriorating from the inside and because it didn’t hurt, I didn’t realize how serious it was.”

Dr. Sathiraju immediately placed Maxine in the hospital where she stayed for eight days and received antibiotics. “They cut away the dead tissue and cleaned it thoroughly,” Maxine said. “I had a deep hole in my leg. It was awful looking, but not that painful.”

The infection was persistent, but so were Maxine and her doctor. Today, she’s recovered.

“They really took good care of me, and I’m really thankful we have that center,” Maxine said. “The Wound Center staff has been wonderful. They’ve been excellent and very thoughtful. My leg has has mended.”

Surgeon Alan Jacks, MD, said the Wound Center is a great addition to services offered by Blue Ridge HealthCare.

“It will be really good for patients with diabetes and anyone who has venous insufficiencies - where veins are incomplete in the leg and cause swelling,” Dr. Jacks said.

While the Wound Center has seen all kinds of wounds since opening, the staff expects diabetes-related wounds to top the list since Burke County has a 2 percent higher incidence of diabetes than the nation as a whole. With foot ulcers being the main wound among diabetics, comprehensive foot care programs, like the ones offered at the Wound Center, have been shown to reduce amputation rates by 45 percent to 85 percent.

Like most other physicians seeing patients at the Wound Center, Franklin Steele, MD, a surgeon at Valdese Hospital, has been seeing chronic wounds at his practice for some time. Dr. Steele decided to train with Praxis physicians in Texas because “I wanted to learn,” he said. “I wanted to find out what else can I do.”

Many of his patients have diabetes with poor circulation. “A diabetic foot ulcer is not quite an emergency but almost,” he said.

Through approaches he learned in Texas and ones he’s perfected throughout the years, Dr. Steele is persistent. He doesn’t give up easily on chronic wounds and sees amputation as a last resort. “I do some unusual things that don’t replace those therapies but maybe add to it,” he said.

That’s the type of persistence and care being shown all chronic wound patients at the center. Before the Wound Center opened, Blue Ridge HealthCare officials expected healing rates at 90 percent. In fact, the healing has well exceeded that.

Chronic Wounds

• Conditions that can benefit from specialized wound management include:
  
• Diabetic wounds of the lower extremity
  
• Compromised skin grafts and flaps
  
• Delayed radiation injury
  
• Necrotizing soft tissue infections
  
• Osteomyelitis (refractory)
  
• Crush injury, compartment syndrome, and other acute traumatic ischemias
  
• Venous and arterial ulcers
  
• Select problem wounds
  
• Clostridial myonecrosis (gas gangrene)

The second largest employer in Burke County, Blue Ridge HealthCare serves a four-county area and includes Grace and Valdese hospitals, Blue Ridge Home HealthCare, Grace Heights and College Pines Health & Rehabilitation Centers, Grace Ridge Retirement Community, Phifer Wellness Center and a number of physician practices.