There is a wealth of evidence to support the benefits of oxygen therapy on wound healing. Oxygen is required for all major processes of wound healing and wound hypoxia is common. Skin wounds can receive oxygen from the blood stream via perfusion and from oxygen uptake through the skin. Yet, both wound perfusion and blood oxygen levels are frequently insufficient in patients with chronic wounds due to poor circulation, vascular disruption, and vasoconstriction, thereby reducing the wound's capacity to heal.~Diabetic ulcers, vascular ulcers (venous or arterial), and pressure injuries are all chronic wounds. The pathologies underlying chronic wounds can differ widely. However, common shared features include prolonged or excessive inflammation, persistent infections, and the inability to respond to reparative stimuli. Adults with vascular disease and/or diabetes are at highest risk for chronic leg and foot wounds. The ischemic (reduced tissue perfusion) and/ or hypoxic lower limb conditions which result from these conditions reduces availability of both oxygen and nutrients, making these wounds especially hard to heal. These wounds last on average 12 to 13 months, but this varies widely; many will remain open for years or never heal, and up to 30% of DFUs go onto amputation. Even when they do heal, wounds recur in 60-70% of patients, decrease quality of life, and are a significant cause of morbidity.~The need for telehealth and remote patient monitoring in the current climate is critical and reinforces the VA's strategy to protect and care for Veterans, their families, heath care providers and staff in the face of this pandemic.~The VA's tactic to shift outpatient care to a telehealth mode, with phone, video and/or electronic communication to meet the needs of the ambulatory patient is difficult to achieve in wound care as clinicians rely heavily on the visual appearance of the wound to direct their therapy decisions. Thus, it is imperative to validate a remote monitoring tool that offers standard telehealth care as well as accurate, consistent, and simple wound measurement and imagery. Having the ability to manage complex wounds accurately should enable quick identification of early warning signs that the wound is deteriorating thus facilitating appropriate triaging of patients that need urgent face to face medical review.
Single center pilot study examining the effect of Natrox topical oxygen therapy on chronic wounds along with the introduction of remote monitoring and telehealth for home care management.