MDNews - Minnesota

COVER FEATURE two weeks of treatment, the wound on his leg stopped draining, and his orthopedist was able to cast the leg. His pain steadily declined. After 60 treatments, his X-rays showed solid bone throughout the tibia and no sign of infection. He recovered completely. A month after he finished treatment, he burst through our door, running ahead of his mom, to say thank you. It was a great save." Although the number of hyperbaric HCMC's new multiplace hyperbaric chamber has the capacity to treat multiple patients simultaneously. Critical care nurses and hyperbaric technicians with special certification in hyperbaric medicine provide care under the direct supervision of emergency medicine physicians who are board certified in undersea and hyperbaric medicine. treatment facilities has increased from 220 to 1,000 over the last 10 years and hyperbaric medicine has numerous emergency indications, the number of facilities in the United States willing to treat emergencies is actually dropping. There are now fewer than 10 in the country willing to treat emergency indications. This is because it is not cost-effective to provide 24/7 hyperbaric treatment for critically ill patients, due to the heavy investment necessary in the facility itself and the specialty skills of the hyperbaric physicians and critical care nurses. HCMC has continuously provided 24/7 emergency hyperbaric service since its first chamber was built in 1964. It is a reflection of the hospital's commitment to our statewide community that it will continue to provide that service in the new facility. "HCMC is extraordinarily generous to of blindness due to lack of blood flow through the central eye artery. "Both are indications for emergency treatment," Dr. Adkinson explains. "They are unusual, and until now, we haven't had much to offer for these conditions. Now, evidence shows that enriching the blood with oxygen sometimes resolves the problem. Hyperbaric treatment works as well or better than alternative treatments but needs to be started right away, at least within six hours of onset. If primary care physicians see these conditions, they need to arrange for immediate specialty consultation; it's an emergency situation." Recently, Dr. Adkinson had firsthand experience with the effectiveness of hyperbaric treatment for chronic refrac- tory osteomyelitis in a 4-year-old boy. The child had become septic, and the infection settled in his tibia. After months 8 | Twin Cities MD NEWS s MDNEWS.COM of hospitalization with repeated surgeries and courses of antibiotics, his bone continued to deteriorate. Searching for options, one of the child's physicians found literature noting that bone infection that has not responded to the usual treatments is an indication for hyperbaric oxygen. He called HCMC. "On the X-ray of this child's tibia, the whole central third of the bone appeared moth-eaten and barely there," remembers Dr. Adkinson. "This child was in pain, couldn't put any weight on his leg and had an open, draining wound on the front of his leg. We thought we could help. "He was a very active little guy," she says with a laugh. "Keeping him still dur- ing the treatments was a challenge — we devoted our only in-chamber computer screen to him so he could watch a video during his treatment. Bribery worked, too. We were amazed. Within the first patients in need," affirms Dr. Adkinson. "We are a safety net for the poor, for the critically ill and injured, and for anyone else needing highly specialized care. "I am very proud of our hyperbaric team's work," she concludes. "We rank very high in patient satisfaction and in outcomes. There is camaraderie among our patients, and we strive to encour- age that. We designed a beautifully appointed sitting area just for patients, to foster an environment of closeness as they prepare together to enter the chamber for treatment." Surrounded by spa-like serenity and sustained by HCMC's commitment to pro- viding the highest quality of hyperbaric care to Minnesota, HCMC's new Center for Hyperbaric Medicine provides a place where healing goes hand-in-hand with warm and generous support. s

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