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topicnews · September 13, 2024

New clinic for healing difficult-to-heal wounds in the north

New clinic for healing difficult-to-heal wounds in the north

The clinic is headed by Dr. Moshe Kulikovsky, an expert in the field and one of the founders of the Israeli Society for Diabetic Foot and Wound Healing. Treatment is carried out by an integrated medical team that includes doctors of various specialties, nurses specializing in wound healing, a nutritionist, a lymphatic physiotherapy service and the use of the most modern technologies.

The mapping conducted by Ziv Medical Center revealed that one of the most needed and lacking medical services in the region is a clinic for healing hard-to-heal wounds. This clinic receives patients who have exhausted initial treatment but have not resulted in wound healing and require a professional response from a team from different areas of the hospital. In the future, part of this response will be provided by the hyperbaric chamber, which is expected to open in Ziv towards the end of the year.

The new clinic will treat all types of wounds, such as: wounds on the lower limbs due to diabetes, pressure ulcers, wounds due to venous insufficiency, surgical incisions that have become contaminated and/or whose edges have become loose, wounds resulting from trauma, wounds due to autoimmune diseases, and more. One of the main areas – but not the only one – is the treatment of the diabetic foot, which is unfortunately very common among the inhabitants of the north. It is important to know that diabetes is a global epidemic. According to the Ministry of Health, the diabetes rate in Israel (9.7%) is higher than the average of European countries (6.3%). The rate of diabetes patients in the northern region is higher – over 14%, compared to a rate of about 11% in the center of the country.

Due to poor circulation in the lower limbs and nerve damage in the legs, diabetics may develop a wound (ulcer) and subsequent infection, which may lead to amputation of a limb. From the medical literature we learn that about 25-30% of all diabetics develop a foot wound during their lifetime, which may develop into necrosis and later amputation of a limb and, as a result, disability and loss of function.

According to 2019 data from the Ministry of Health, the north had the highest number of amputations due to diabetes (20 per 100,000, the national average is 14.6, compared to 10.3 in Tel Aviv). The new service will provide an exclusive answer to this problem for residents of the Galilee, from the Golan Heights to Karmiel and even south of there, who have previously had to travel long distances to receive treatment for difficult-to-heal wounds.

Moshe Kulikovsky: “The treatment of difficult-to-heal wounds requires adaptation to the patient, the underlying disease and the extent and severity of the wound. The new clinic makes it possible to provide each patient with personal and professional care together with an interdisciplinary team.”

Prof. Salman Zarka, Director of Ziv Medical Center: “Ziv Medical Center continues to develop and promote healthcare services as part of its vision to provide northern residents with more excellent medical services close to home here in Ziv.”



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