"We deal with almost every kind of wound, other than acute wounds," says Rob Miller, M.D., director of the Piedmont Atlanta Hospital Wound Care and Hyperbaric Center. "Patients who have mitigating factors like diabetes, malnourishment and poor sensation because they have spinal cord injuries develop wounds that tend to take longer to heal."

Dr. Miller says patients can be treated as inpatients or outpatients with a variety of wounds, such as pressure sores, diabetic wounds or wounds developed in transplant patients with immunosuppressed systems. When chronic wounds are not treated properly, there can be serious issues. "You can have a big problem with infection, especially in the diabetic population," Dr. Miller says. "And patients with poor perfusion to their extremities and with an infection can mean the difference between keeping a foot and losing a foot."

Concentrated oxygen delivered in hyperbaric chambers helps speed the healing process for patients with chronic wounds, such as pressure sores, diabetic wounds and wounds developed in transplant patients with immunosuppressed systems. "The fact that we were kind of the pioneers and have developed a lot of these protocols, we’re sharing that knowledge with our sister hospitals so they don’t have to reinvent the wheel," Dr. Miller says.

So, patients get the best, most efficient care. Piedmont Healthcare offers wound care services in its hospitals. The staff is board-certified and includes teams of doctors, nurses and physical therapists who specialize in wound and ostomy care. Patients of all ages are treated with a multidisciplinary approach using advanced technologies and state-of-the-art treatments.

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