Maryland's Health Matters - Midtown - Winter 2018 - 8

At the Wound Healing Center at UMMC Midtown Campus, our multidisciplinary team treats both the wound and
any underlying medical or lifestyle factors that may have
contributed to the wound's slow healing. Vascular surgeons,

SALVAGING HOPE
In 2015, Baltimore resident Horace Baker noticed an

infectious disease physicians, family medicine practitioners,
podiatrists and specialized wound care nurses work together
to customize individual treatment plans, to better address
every patient's needs and improve healing outcomes.

ulcer on his right foot. "I'm on my feet a lot for work,

"Treating the cause of the wound is extremely important

but I wasn't wearing the right shoes," he says. Baker

to the healing process," says podiatric surgeon Jacob Wynes,

has diabetes. For people with the disease, poorly

DPM, assistant professor of orthopaedics at University of

fitting shoes can increase the risk of diabetic foot

Maryland School of Medicine. "Without addressing those fac-

ulcers. Weeks passed and the ulcer worsened. It was

tors, the wound is unlikely to heal completely, and the patient

now enlarged, swollen and pulsating.

will continue to develop nonhealing wounds. At the center,

Baker contacted his podiatrist, Hummira Abawi,
DPM, instructor of orthopaedics and podiatric
surgeon at UMMC Midtown Campus, about his ulcer.

our goal is not only to help our patients heal, but to prevent
another nonhealing wound."

Dr. Abawi instructed him to go to the emergency

STEPS TOWARD HEALING

room immediately. At the emergency department at

The healing and prevention process begins at the patient's

UMMC Midtown Campus, podiatric surgeon Jacob

first visit to the Wound Healing Center. After an initial

Wynes, DPM, diagnosed Baker with Charcot

assessment, patients are enrolled in the center's outpa-

arthropathy, also known as Charcot foot.

tient wound healing program. For patients who complete

Charcot foot forms in patients with peripheral

the program, the wound healing rate is nearly 100 percent,

neuropathy, a common complication of diabetes

which means patients are discharged with a healed wound

in which the nerves in the lower legs and feet are

and without amputation. Patients who participate in the

damaged, causing loss of sensation in the feet.

program are active partners in their care. Committed to

Bones in the foot and ankle are weakened, causing

healing, patients in the program agree to attend all weekly

deformity in the foot, which can lead to nonhealing
wounds and Baker's biggest fear.
"I was afraid that I would lose my foot," Baker says.
"But Dr. Wynes assured me that he would do everything to save it."
Baker received treatment at the Wound Healing
Center at UMMC Midtown Campus, where he underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy to assist with the
healing of his ulcer and surgery to reconstruct the
bones in his foot. After one year and six months, the
healing process was complete.
"It was a long process, but Drs. Wynes and Abawi
were with me at every step. If there were complications,
I could call immediately and my treatment was adjusted
to address them. I'm finally doing well, and that's all
thanks to the expertise of the Wound Healing Center.
Without them, I wouldn't have healed," says Baker.

8 MARYLAND'S HEALTH MATTERS

The Wound Healing Center
is equipped with two
hyperbaric oxygen chambers.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Maryland's Health Matters - Midtown - Winter 2018