Our new HyperbaricLink Commentary emphatically states our position:
Hyperbaric oxygen plays an increasingly important role in the treatment of problem wounds and limb salvage. But access to accredited hyperbaric facilities and certified hyperbaric physicians and technicians is a public health problem. In 2004 as many as two-thirds of nursing home patients with NPUAP Stage II or worse pressure ulcers were not enrolled in wound care treatment programs [NCHS, 2011]. In diabetes-related wounds alone, US hospitals performed 66,000 toe, foot, and leg amputations in 2006 [CDC, 2011], for which health economists have estimated a cost of $3 billion per year [ACA, 2008]. More and more hospitals and health networks today are opening advanced wound care and hyperbaric centers to serve this unmet clinical need. Even if chronic wounds were its only indicated use, HBOT would be assured a place in evidence-based medicine for quality and cost-effective healthcare.
People affected by chronic wounds will find new links to good basic info under Patient Resources. We've also added the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care (AAWC) to our list of Clinical Resources. And we're always happy to plug must-reads from Best Publishing, now in Further Reading.
See our June 7 post, "Diseases/Conditions Upgrades And Updates," for more information about our new page format. And look for regular updates in the days and weeks ahead.
[UPDATE: 31 Aug 2011. Revised NCHS citation to reflect that wound care professionals use NPUAP Stages, not Wagner Grades, to classify pressure ulcers.]
[Photo: Fink Engineering]
O2.0 is the news blog of HyperbaricLink, the independent web guide to hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
"In 2004 as many as two-thirds of nursing home patients with Wagner Grade 2 or worse pressure ulcers were not enrolled in wound care treatment programs"
ReplyDeleteThe Wagner scale is not used to stage pressure ulcers. It is used for Diabetic foot ulcers.
You are correct, Damiana, and we are wrong. We should have written "stage 2," as specified in the NCHS Fact Sheet we cited:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/factsheets/factsheet_quality_care_patient_safety.htm
To be clear and complete, we will add pressure ulcer stages to our Chronic Wounds page. Thank you very much.
Ron
Chronic Wounds page definition and commentary sections corrected. Now we explain the NPUAP Pressure Ulcer Stages here and the Wagner Grade Scale on our Diabetic Ulcers page only. We have also added NPUAP to our list of Clinical Resources for Chronic Wounds. Thanks once more, Damiana.
ReplyDelete