Wound Heals After 70 Years

When D'Souza was 14, he was kicked in the shin while playing soccer and developed a painful gash. With proper medical attention, the wound should have healed within two weeks.

However, D'Souza did not have access to adequate care until he moved from India to the U.S. as an adult. Even then, his wound would not heal, so he knew he needed to see a specialist.

He saw various doctors to try to close his chronic wound, but it would reopen over and over, creating a painful cycle.

Wound Center in Takoma Park

In 2015, D'Souza came to the wound care center at Washington Adventist Hospital. Now age 89 and with his wound open again, he wanted to end the vicious cycle. His age and diabetes diagnosis made healing even more difficult.

Wound Care Specialists

A team of physicians, including plastic surgeon Wendell G. Miles, MD and infectious disease doctor Andrew Catanzaro, MD, took on the challenge.

After trying a number of advanced wound care treatments, Miles discovered the reason D'Souza's wound would not heal - a piece of exposed bone had caused osteomyelitis, a bone infection. Miles took D'Souza into surgery, removed the exposed bone, covered it with a skin substitute and placed a special brace on D'Souza's leg.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) Speeds Healing

D'Souza began treatment in our state-of-the-art hyperbaric oxygen chamber five days a week for several months. Even though his age made it difficult to get around, he worked hard to make it to every treatment.

Ongoing Support & Care

Adventist HealthCare Home Health assisted D'Souza in making and keeping his appointments. His doctors placed him on antibiotics and met him for regular follow-ups, witnessing vast improvement over the course of the treatments.