Treatment
Treatment is usually surgical debridement, wound care and antibiotic therapy although amputation is necessary in many cases. "Most amputations are performed for ischemic disease of the lower extremity. Of dysvascular amputations, 15-28% of patients undergo contralateral limb amputations within 3 years. Of elderly persons who undergo amputations, 50% survive the first 3 years." In the United States, 30,000-40,000 amputations are performed annually. There were an estimated 1.6 million individuals living with the loss of a limb in 2005; these estimates are expected to more than double to 3.6 million such individuals by the year 2050. Antibiotics alone are not effective because they may not penetrate infected tissues sufficiently. Hyperbaric medicine (HBOT) treatment is used to treat gas gangrene. HBOT increases pressure and oxygen content to allow blood to carry more oxygen to inhibit anaerobic organism growth and reproduction. A regenerative medicine therapy was developed by Dr. Peter DeMarco to treat gangrene using procaine and PVP. He gave his therapy to diabetic patients to avoid amputations. Growth factors, hormones and skin grafts have also been used to accelerate healing for gangrene and other chronic wounds.
Read more about this topic: Gangrene
Famous quotes containing the word treatment:
“Our treatment of both older people and children reflects the value we place on independence and autonomy. We do our best to make our children independent from birth. We leave them all alone in rooms with the lights out and tell them, “Go to sleep by yourselves.” And the old people we respect most are the ones who will fight for their independence, who would sooner starve to death than ask for help.”
—Margaret Mead (1901–1978)
“The treatment of African and African American culture in our education was no different from their treatment in Tarzan movies.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)
“I will use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment, but never with a view to injury and wrongdoing. Neither will I administer a poison to anybody when asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a course. Similarly, I will not give to a woman a pessary to cause abortion. I will keep pure and holy both my life and my art.”
—Hippocrates (c. 460–c. 370 B.C.)