The Life Support Technologies Group
(LST) uses hyperbaric medicine to support the multi-disciplinary Diabetic Foot
and Limb Preservation Program to prevent amputations at Good Samaritan Regional
Medical Center, Suffern, NY. The Program
is a model for treatment in the Hudson Valley and includes: Hyperbaric medical
treatment, non-invasive imaging and diagnostics, advanced surgical tools and
techniques, biological dressings, nutritional and educational counseling, and
advanced wound care.
Byoung Yang, M.D., System Medical
Director - Wound Care and Hyperbarics, at Bon Secours Health System, which
includes Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center, Suffern, NY, said, “We have
seen that patients in our Wound and Hyperbaric Institute often need a
multi-disciplinary approach to ensure the best possible outcomes. The Limb
Preservation Program is a direct result of the on-going collaboration between
many different health care professionals in our Medical Center. We have seen
remarkable results and have been able to preserve many limbs through this
medically intense approach to patient care.”
Diabetics are most at risk for limb
amputations as a result of non-healing wounds. The severity of the issue is
seen through statistics provided by the American Diabetes Association: in year
2011 there were 25.8 million people diagnosed with diabetes in the United
States; over 60% of non-traumatic limb amputations involve diabetics; and, approximately
65,700 non-traumatic lower-limb amputations were performed on diabetics in year
2006. Maintaining peoples' health enables limb preservation, which positively
impacts quality of life and saves in medical expenditures.
Jay G. Levine, D.P.M., Director of the
Diabetic Foot and Limb Preservation Program at Good Samaritan Regional Medical
Center, Suffern, NY, said, “Preventive care is the best way for patients to
maintain their limbs. Diabetic patients have to be especially vigilant. Through
a combination of interventions, including education and excellent care at the
earliest stages of wound development, it’s often possible to prevent limb
loss.”
For patients whose wounds do not
respond to conventional wound care -- nutritional guidance, antibiotics, surgical
debridement, and advanced wound dressings -- the addition of hyperbaric medical
treatment often makes the difference and enables a limb to be preserved.
Hyperbaric treatment involves placing a patient in a specially constructed
pressure vessel -- referred to as a chamber -- and increasing the atmospheric
pressure while the patient breathes pure oxygen. While undergoing
pressurization and de-pressurization, the patient feels a sensation similar to
flying on a commercial aircraft. A single treatment for a non-healing wound
typically lasts two hours; patients usually undergo one hyperbaric treatment
each weekday. The total number of treatments needed to resolve a non-healing
wound ranges from 20-40 but more treatments may be required.
For more information see:
Good Samaritan Regional Medical
Center, Suffern, NY
Wound and Hyperbaric Institute
The American Diabetes Association
About the Life Support Technologies Group (LST)
The Life Support Technologies Group (LST) is a Tarrytown,
NY-based medical and life-support engineering company specializing in Advanced
Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Services to hospitals in the NY, NJ, CT region. LST has been in business for 20 years and
currently provides services to 9 hospitals.
Glenn
Butler, CEO
Life
Support Technologies Group
(914)
333-8412
