PARIS, Ill. (WTWO/WAWV) — A Horizon Health Podiatrist has proven that fish skin can heal diabetic wounds.
Dr. Brittany Wojnicki, along with registered nurses Karen Orndorff and Lauren Zinkovich, attended the Symposium on advanced Wound Care in Las Vegas, Nevada in early October.
At the symposium, Dr. Wojnicki presented how fish skin was used to treat a patient’s severe diabetic wounds.
“She was supposed to have two lower leg amputations, and her wounds were healed in only three months with the fish skin,” Dr. Wojnicki explained.
When fish skin, used from wild Atlantic cod, is grafted onto a burn or diabetic wound, the fish skin recruits the body’s own cells and converts into living tissue.
“Below knee amputations are a major cause for morbidity and mortality in the diabetic population,” Dr. Wojnicki explained. “The five-year mortality rate after a below knee amputation is 40-82%, with a 30-day mortality rate of 17%. Fish skin grafting has shown to prevent amputations, prolong life, and improve quality of life.”
