By Birgit Buerkner
The little guy is fourteen by seven centimeters and sucks like crazy. His mission: to sprout new tissue cells on Peter D.’s (71) leg. With constant negative pressure, he pulls at the wound – with success!
dr Berthold Amann (57), vascular specialist at the Franziskus Hospital in Charlottenburg, uses a vacuum pump to heal stubborn lesions. Desperate patients from all over Germany come to him.
Peter D. from Königs Wusterhausen had an artificial knee implanted 13 years ago. After that, a hospital germ infection spread to his leg. He had to be operated on sixteen times – a wound on his calf remained that was the size of the palm of a hand.
dr Berthold Amann (57) attaches the airtight bandage with the suction hose to Peter D. Photo: Siegfried Purschke
“Doctors from several clinics told me my leg had to be amputated,” says Peter D., who most recently coached water polo teams in his free time. “I definitely wanted to prevent that.”
Around one million people in Germany suffer from non-healing wounds, mostly due to circulatory disorders. “First we have to eliminate the causes,” says Amann, “for example, opening leg vessels with stents or bypasses.” Peter D. received antibiotic infusions to combat the infection.
The wound is then closed with an airtight bandage, and the suction hose of the pump is in the middle. “Permanent longitudinal suction stimulates the growth of cells and blood vessels,” says Amann.
In fact: After a few days, the wound turns red, blood vessels bud, and islands of skin form.
The special feature: Patients can take the mini suction device home with them and only come to the clinic once a week to clean the wound. With much larger pumps, those affected had to stay on the ward for around four weeks.
Peter D’s leg healed after eight weeks. He would like to visit his team at the swimming pool soon.