1775 Thompson Rd, Coos Bay, Oregon 97420
(541) 269-8111
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Our on-site physicians have specialized training in chronic wound care and hyperbaric medicine. We work closely with referring and consulting physicians to provide the most appropriate and effective care plan.
Because diabetes afflicts an estimated 19 percent of Coos County’s population, treating diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) is a big part of the Wound Center’s mission. When DFUs are identified and treated early, the risk of debilitating or life-threatening complications can be dramatically reduced.
For more information about outpatient wound care, contact the wound care clinic: (541) 269-4180.
Bay Area Hospital’s Wound and Hyperbaric Center treats patients with chronic, non-healing, or infected wounds. Our specially trained medical professionals employ a comprehensive toolkit of proven methods to promote healing:
Your body’s tissues need oxygen, and injured tissue needs more. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy increases the amount of oxygen your blood can carry, promoting healing while fighting infection. The process works by stimulating the formation of tiny blood vessels — a process called “angiogenesis.”
In hyperbaric oxygen therapy, you breathe 100% pure oxygen, pressurized to triple normal air pressure. Your lungs can gather as much as three times the oxygen they could at normal air pressure.
The word “hyperbaric” comes from two Greek roots:
A treatment session in a hyperbaric chamber is sometimes called a “dive” because the pressurized chamber resembles a submarine.
Your doctor may suggest outpatient hyperbaric oxygen therapy for any of the following conditions:
Bay Area Hospital acquired two Sechrist hyperbaric chambers in 2014, which are considered to be among the best hyperbaric centers available. The Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center offers hyperbaric therapy to local patients, making it a practical option for them. As hyperbaric therapy typically demands daily treatments for several weeks, it becomes impractical for patients to seek treatment outside their town.
Significant advances have been made in cancer treatment, including radiation therapy. While radiation treatment saves lives, it can also leave patients with long-term tissue damage. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has dramatically changed the conventional approach to repairing radiation-damaged tissue. It has been shown to stimulate capillary growth, fibroblastic proliferation, and collagen synthesis in irradiated bone and soft tissue. It is the only therapy known to reverse the vascular compromise responsible for late radiation effects.
Patients with soft-tissue injuries require comprehensive wound management. Pain, nutritional deficiencies, pathologic fractures, and oral cutaneous fistulas are some of the complications from radiating bone and soft tissue. Wounds occurring in irradiated tissue respond exceptionally well to hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
If you’re interested in pursuing hyperbaric treatment, consult your family physician or other primary health-care provider.
During your hyperbaric treatments, you’ll lie in a transparent acrylic cylinder, breathing pure, pressurized oxygen. You may experience a feeling of fullness in your ears, much like taking off and landing in a commercial airplane. This sensation can be relieved by yawning. Each treatment will last about two hours. Healing a chronic wound may require five weekly treatments for as long as three months. During your treatment, you can see and talk to the hyperbaric oxygen therapy technician. Just outside the chamber, there is a television.
Because pure oxygen is a fire hazard, you cannot take anything into the hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber that might cause a spark or fire risk. That means no petroleum-based hair products, lighters, or battery-powered devices like cell phones, video games, or laptops. The basic rule is: If you weren’t born with it, don’t take it into the chamber. We even provide a static-free gown to wear in place of your regular clothes. These precautions assure your safety.
Complications in hyperbaric oxygen therapy are rare, but as with any medical procedure, there are some risks, including:
Peter G. Lund, MD, is a board-certified internist who practiced in California before moving to Coos Bay. He received his medical degree from Mexico’s Autonomous University of Tamaulipas and completed his internal medicine residency at the University of California, Irvine. His practice style emphasizes partnership and communication.
Several Care Certified (WCC) nurses work with the physicians to determine each patient’s treatment plan and to administer treatments. Wound care nurses receive special training and certification.
Our hyperbaric technician is specially trained to operate the hyperbaric chambers, working closely with our physicians and nurses. The technician also ensures safety of the hyperbaric facilities, performing daily safety checks on the two chambers.
For a person with diabetes, something as simple as a blistered toe may foreshadow a long battle to heal a persistent sore. If a diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) becomes chronic, infections and other complications are common. A DFU can even lead to amputation.
Treatment of DFUs has long been a challenge for medical professionals. Even with expert wound care, complete healing of DFUs in many patients occurs slowly, if at all. The risk of death from unhealed neuropathic ulcers is greater than for breast cancer and prostate cancer combined.
Among the nearly 24 million people with diabetes in the U.S., 15% to 25% will develop foot ulcers in their lifetimes. Of patients with DFUs, 15% will develop bone infections (osteomyelitis), and nearly 16% will require amputation. Nearly half of all unhealed neuropathic ulcers result in death within five years.
