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Hope for wounds that time won’t heal.
 Since 1993, Saint Margaret Mercy has offered the most advanced wound treatment for people with chronic non-healing wounds. The Wound Healing & Prevention Institute at Saint Margaret Mercy is a comprehensive outpatient treatment center designed to complement a primary physician’s services in the treatment and prevention of chronic non-healing wounds.
The comprehensive treatment plan is individualized for each patient and includes the following elements that are critical to wound healing and prevention:
 Comprehensive wound specific assessment
- Diagnostic testing
- Vascular assessment
- Nutritional assessment
- Infection control
- Wound debridement
- Edema control
- Pressure relief
- Advanced topical wound therapies
- Patient, caregiver and community education
 Our team of specialists have been trained in state-of-the-art wound management and have achieved a level of expertise unmatched in the region. Our multidisciplinary team includes professionals with the following backgrounds:
- General Surgery
- Infection Disease
- Internal Medicine
- Nutrition
- Orthopedic Surgery
- Podiatry
- Vascular Surgery
- Wound Specialist Registered Nurses and technicians
In addition to comprehensive wound management, we offer the following services:
For more information about the Wound Healing & Prevention Institute, please call the Institute a (219) 933-2666 or, in Illinois, call (708) 891-9305, ext. 32666. You can also e-mail Gail Blackburn, manager of the Wound Healing & Prevention Institute, at
gail.blackburn@ssfhs.org .
Neurosensory testing with Pressure Specified Sensory Device technology (NST)
NST testing is the latest technology in the fight against neuropathy. Neuropathy is the lack of normal sensation that affects an extremity; this is most common in diabetics. Neuropathy is the leading cause of ulceration, infection, and with advanced cases, amputation.
Saint Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers is the only hospital in the region and one of less than 100 hospitals world-wide to offer this technology. NST testing is a state-of-the-art, accurate, painless, non-invasive tool that allows physicians to measure the degree of neuropathy starting at its earliest onset. Since neuropathy is a progressive disease, the early detection that NST can provide is vital to patients. According to the American Diabetes Association, "Evaluation of neurological status in the low-risk foot should include a quantitative somatosensory threshold test," (Diabetic Care, Volume 25, Supplement 1, January 2002). NST is a form of quantitative sensory-motor testing.
Surgical treatment for venous diseases
There is hope for the thousands of people who find themselves in and out of wound treatment programs due to the serious complications of chronic venous disease, including varicose veins and leg ulcers.
Subfascial Endoscopic Perforator Surgery (SEPS):
SEPS is a minimally invasive outpatient procedure that can heal more than venous leg ulcers; it treats the underlying condition that causes them.
Venous leg ulcers are caused when a valve connecting a vein in the leg does not work properly causing blood to flow backward through the veins, instead of in the direction of the heart. As a result of this backflow, increased pressure in the vein and surrounding tissue causes the leg to swell and discolor. If an external injury, bump or even a scratch occurs to the affected area, an ulcer can form.
The SEPS procedure:
- Enables the ulcer to heal in a relatively short period of time (4 to 8 weeks)
- Reduces the chance of developing new ulcers
- Improves the rate of wound healing
Transilluminated Powered Phlebectomy (TPPS)
TPPS is a clinically tested surgical technique for the treatment of varicose veins.
Your veins are an important part of your vascular system. After the arteries deliver blood to all extremities, your veins channel blood back to the heart using one-way valves. When these valves don’t open and close properly, blood can gather in the veins. The veins become enlarged and are called “varicosed.” Varicose veins are more than unsightly; they are often a cause of pain as well.
Generally there are two treatment options for varicose veins:
- Conservative measures such as compression stockings or wraps
- Corrective surgery
A physician may prescribe a combination of these treatments.
Using the TPPS procedure, the surgeon removes the vein using a small powered surgical device while viewing the vein with a transilluminating light. Clinical studies suggest that this method enables the surgeon to remove veins using a minimal number of small incisions and short operative times, which may result in an easier recovery for the patient with good cosmetic results. |