Wound Care Experts to Meet in Chicago, IL This December

CHICAGO, Sept. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A panel of wound care experts will convene for a roundtable on pressure ulcer treatment strategies at the 6^th Annual Meeting of the American College of Wound Healing and Tissue Repair on Dec. 2, 2016 in Chicago. As a part of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's (IHI) 5 Million Lives campaign, pressure ulcer reduction  is considered a "never event" by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), making the condition important to patients, providers, and the healthcare economy.

"Pressure ulcer prevalence will only increase over the next decade as our population lives longer and we see marked increases in diabetes and obesity," said course co-chair William J. Ennis, DO, MBA, FACOS. "While there are guidelines describing the basic treatment and prevention techniques for pressure ulcers, when cases are recalcitrant, there are many opinions on the use and timing of surgical intervention."

More than 2.5 million pressure ulcers are treated in the acute care setting each year in the United States. Hospitals, long term acute care hospitals, and nursing facilities struggle to provide the most comprehensive care possible to prevent and treat these conditions. Litigation surrounding the development of pressure ulcers has greatly increased over the past 5 years with awards reaching millions of dollars.

Despite the wound care industry providing new product innovations and off-loading options, the prevalence and incidence of these complicated conditions continues to escalate. With an aging society, an epidemic of obesity and diabetes, and an increasing number of Americans living with multiple co-morbid clinical conditions, it is expected that pressure ulcer prevention and treatment will continue to be an important topic in healthcare.

"We felt that by bringing surgical thought leaders in Plastic Surgery together in a roundtable format, we might begin to raise awareness and  begin to achieve some consensus on who is a surgical candidate, what procedures are best, and how the wound care provider can best prepare the patient pre-operatively," Dr. Ennis said.

Although there are guidelines for care, there is practice variation, product waste and poor outcomes. At the 6^th Annual Meeting of the American College of Wound Healing and Tissue Repair, a group of national experts on the surgical management of pressure ulcers will gather to discuss difficult case scenarios and practice patterns, and help guide an audience of more than 400 wound care providers through a proposed treatment algorithm.

This session will use real case examples and be conducted in an interactive "talk show" style format. Questions from the audience will allow for an interactive environment.

• Panelists include: Robert Galiano, MD, Northwestern University
• Christopher Attinger, MD, Georgetown University
• Geoffrey Gurtner, MD, Stanford University
• Dennis Orgill, MD, Harvard University

William J. Ennis, DO, Moderator, University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System, President, American College of Wound Healing and Tissue Repair

There are a growing number of patients for whom options have become extremely limited and for which significant morbidity, and even mortality, can result due to the presence of a non-healing pressure ulcer. Young patients with spinal cord injuries desire a high quality of life, and even when surgical correction of a pressure ulcer occurs, there can be as high as 70% recidivism. Many patients have already undergone numerous surgical interventions and surgeons can begin to run out of soft tissue options for closure. Vulnerable populations and those with limited access to expert care are even more at risk. Even when resources are plentiful, a patient can die from complications as a result of pressure ulcers.

"There is a growing population of spinal cord injured patients from trauma, violent crime and military conflicts who need more definitive treatments for their pressure ulcers. We need to create the dialogue now," Dr. Ennis said.

The 6^th Annual Meeting for the American College of Wound Healing and Tissue Repair takes place Dec. 1-3, 2016 at the Chicago Hilton. For more information regarding the agenda, faculty or registration, please visit acwound.org/congress/.

Contact:
Marissa Ruggiero
[email protected]
312-413-1291

SOURCE American College of Wound Healing and Tissue Repair

Related Links

http://www.acwound.org