Albert Lea Medical Center’s Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Services Department is gaining recognition for its treatment of patients with chronic wounds, nonhealing wounds and wounds caused by diabetes.

Earlier this month, the department received a quality award from the Diversified Clinical Services organization for achieving certain quality metrics.

In April of 2008, the department added hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which has been shown to speed up wound healing, reduce amputation rates and help patients avoid hospitalization.

The therapy involves the use of a hyperbaric chamber in which patients breathe 100 percent oxygen while lying in a pressurized chamber. This delivers high concentrations of oxygen to the blood stream and the wound, which rapidly accelerates the healing process, according to a news release from the medical center.

There are only two other hyperbaric oxygen facilities in the state, with the closest being at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

Kim Kirschbaum, program director, said a passionate physician in the wound care clinic was the one who helped bring the chambers to ALMC.

Since adding the hyperbaric oxygen therapy at ALMC, the department has been able to maintain a 93 percent healing rate, which surpassed the national wound care center average of 89 percent, she said. The average days to heal a wound has also gone from 32 days to 24 within a 14-week period.

The healing time for a wound can be cut in half, she said.

Who can qualify for hyperbaric oxygen therapy?

In an informational card about wound care and hyperbaric medicine that is given out at the medical center, a list of indications are given as to who might qualify for this type of treatment.

The list includes patients with diabetic wounds of the lower extremity, compromised skin grafts and flaps, delayed radiation injury, necrotizing soft tissue infections, osteomyelitis, crush injury, compartment syndrome and other acute traumatic ischemias.

Kirschbaum said the hyperbaric treatment can salvage a limb and even create new red blood vessels by increasing oxygen levels.

Many of ALMC’s patients who use the treatment are diabetic.

Kirschbaum said people come from within a 100-mile radius to have treatment. The department can fit in eight people per day in the two machines at the medical center. It involves a very aggressive treatment of usually 28 to 30 treatments over a six-week period.

The staff in the hyperbaric chambers closely monitor the healing of the patients and their safety, she said. She wanted to emphasize it is physician-run and outcome-based.

“We’re so proud to have this in our community because we are only the third in Minnesota,” Kirschbaum said.

How does the hyperbaric oxygen therapy work?

Before patients come for treatment, they first sit down for a consultation, when their physician tells them what to expect during the therapy.

Jody Hacker, safety director, said patients are told to come in for treatment without any lotions, makeup, nail polish, jewelry, hearing aids or even dentures. Once they arrive they would change into a cotton gown, and then their vitals would be taken before they proceed, Hacker said.

Then, the patient would lie down onto the bed part of the chamber, which has a pillow and a sheet to make the treatment comfortable. The sheets and pillows are made out of 100 percent cotton, which reduces the risk of a fire starting, she said.

The whole bed would then slide into the chamber, and they would be ready to begin the treatment.

The treatment lasts for about 90 minutes, made up of three 30-minute sessions with five minute breaks in-between. The patient is in the chamber the entire time. The physician or other medical staff in the room can communicate with the patient through a phone system attached to the equipment.

The patient may feel a lot of pressure in the ears as the chamber releases a lot of oxygen under extreme pressure — giving the feeling of going between 33 and 45 feet below sea level.

Success stories

Kirschbaum recalled one patient, a farmer, who had lower extremity wounds related to diabetes. If he did not go through with hyperbaric oxygen treatments, the wounds would have probably led to other complications.

She said the man healed quickly, complied with the rules given by the physician and was able to get back on the field after his treatments.

Vanna Nielsen, who was in the hyperbaric oxygen chambers on Wednesday, said she was referred to use the chambers by her doctor in Adams. She has leg ulcers.

She was in for her eighth treatment that day.

“The nurses and doctors say it’s healing right along,” Nielsen said. “They’ve already been able to tell improvement.”

Kirschbaum said when the wound was checked Thursday, Nielsen was already 50 percent to complete closure of her wound. She will probably not need to go the full round of treatments.

Nielsen said though coming to get the treatments requires a major time commitment, it hasn’t been too bad.

She joked that she comes there to watch “Little House on the Prairie” on the television right above her chamber.