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Dr. Maria Suzanne Johnson, MD is an adolescent medicine doctor in Canton, OH specializing in adolescent medicine, general pediatrics and pediatric emergency medicine. She graduated from University of Texas. Dr. Maria Suzanne Johnson, MD is affiliated with Baptist Health System and Baptist Hospital.
4535 Dressler Road Northwest
Canton, OH 44718
Debridement (Removal of Unhealthy Tissue)
Debridement is a procedure that removes damaged skin to help the body heal a chronic wound, acute injury, or burn. Several layers of skin surrounding a chronic wound can include foreign debris, dead (necrotic) tissue, infected tissue, and calloused (hyperkeratotic) skin. If left untreated, these damaged skin layers can spread infection to other parts of the body and may aggravate the wound and delay its healing.
Debriding (removing) this damaged and diseased skin encourages the growth of healthy new tissue, impeding infection by triggering the body's natural cycle of tissue renewal. For this reason, debridement functions both as a wound treatment and as a preventative measure against more complex consequences of infected skin, such as sepsis and amputation. In some circumstances, debridement provides additional aesthetic benefits such as decreased scarring. Debridement also permits doctors to retrieve tissue samples for testing, such as to determine whether patients need antibiotic treatment.
Wounds that frequently require debridement include:
Debridement can be performed either surgically or nonsurgically; some methods are less invasive than others. Doctors select the appropriate debridement technique by considering the location, cause, and size of a patient's wound and may also weigh the patient's overall wellbeing, age, and risk of infection.
Surgical debridement is performed by cutting away dead, infected, and hyperkeratotic skin with a surgical scalpel. For deep wounds that tear away the skin and go into the muscle, skin from another region of a patient's body may be grafted onto the wound, which may then be periodically assessed and rebandaged until fully healed.
Non-surgical debridement is achieved with water or a dissolvent gel. Water softens the damaged skin and affected tissue, allowing doctors to remove it with wet-to-dry dressing. When wet tissue dries, it adheres to the dry dressing or bandage and comes off when the dressing is pulled away. In contrast, dissolvent gel deconstructs tissue, which can be cleaned off of the wound. Nonsurgical debridement is less invasive than surgical techniques; however, it can entail repeat treatments, slowing wound recovery.
While the prospect of stripping away skin may seem jarring, debridement can be critical to the treatment and healing of wounds which cannot not heal independently.
Dr. Maria Suzanne Johnson, MD graduated from University of Texas. She completed residency at Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics. She has a state license in Missouri.
Medical School: University of Texas
Residency: Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics
Licensed In: Missouri
Dr. Maria Suzanne Johnson, MD is associated with these hospitals and organizations:
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Dr. Maria Johnson specializes in pediatric emergency medicine and general pediatrics and practices in San Antonio, TX. Dr. Johnson has obtained a license to practice in Texas.
