Chronic Wounds
Wound Care Treatment
Upperline Health’s wound experts follow evidence-based protocols and techniques to ensure your care is based on the best researched clinical pathways. Our patients can also receive additional care management to make sure your experience with multiple providers is a seamless experience and that no part of your care is overlooked.
Most importantly, after wounds are healed, our team will put you on a plan to prevent future occurrences. Recurrence rates are extremely high for many wounds, and our job is to keep you healthy and on your feet well after your wound is healed.
We treat the following conditions:
- Diabetic Wounds
- Venous Wounds
- Vascular Lesions
- Arterial Wounds
- Other Chronic Wounds
Wound Prevention
The best wound treatment is to reduce your risk of developing an ulcer in the first place. Upperline believes wound care starts with comprehensive prevention.
Our wound specialists will assess your current risk criteria and create a treatment plan to address your needs. We will schedule regular appointments for you as a proactive defense against major problems.
The morbidity (danger) and mortality (death risk) of diabetic/circulatory based amputations is 70% within 5 years post amputation. Most deaths occur due to the multitude of physical ailments patients endure as part of or in conjunction with their diabetes.
Diabetic foot or leg amputation is a primary complication of diabetes. Across the globe, it’s estimated that a limb is amputated every 30 seconds, and 85% of these amputations are due to a diabetic foot ulcer.
Patients with diabetes mellitus have a 25%+ lifetime risk for developing a foot ulcer, and between 14% and 24% of patients require a major or minor lower limb amputation due to severe gangrene.
By the Numbers:
- Diabetes is the leading cause of non-traumatic lower-limb amputation in the United States. More than 80% of diabetic amputations begin with foot ulcers.
- Approximately 15% of diabetes patients with diabetes also have a foot ulcer. Of these, about 6% will be hospitalized due to foot ulcer complications.
- Peripheral artery disease affects 8-10 million people in the United States alone.
- Among these patients, 11% will develop critical limb ischemia (CLI), a condition marked by severe limb pain at rest, non-healing wounds, and gangrene.
- 25% of patients with critical limb ischemia will require life-saving amputation of a limb within a year of CLI diagnosis.
- Approximately 20% of amputee patients will be deceased within a year after their PAD or diabetes-related minor lower extremity amputation, and about 44.1% will be deceased in the 5 years after minor lower extremity amputation.
- The survival rate following a major lower extremity amputation is only about 40% within 5 years, meaning the death rate is around 60%.
- Only about 37% of patients regain pre-amputation mobility following an amputation.
- Around 75% of diabetic foot ulcers may be preventable.