Wound Care in Rockville, MD
Surgeon-led wound care for chronic, non-healing, and post-surgical wounds. We bring specialist-level expertise directly to patients across Montgomery County, Fairfax County, and the greater DC area.
When a Wound Will Not Heal
Some wounds do not respond to standard treatment. The dressing changes continue, the follow-up appointments stack up, but the wound stays open. Weeks turn into months, and in some cases, years.
If that is what you are dealing with, the problem may not be the wound care itself. It may be that nobody has identified and addressed the reason the wound is not closing. That is a surgical question, and it is exactly what we do at EliteCare.
Our approach to wound care is different from a typical outpatient wound clinic. We are a surgical practice with published research in wound reconstruction, negative-pressure wound therapy, and biologic tissue repair. We evaluate every wound through three questions: Is the tissue capable of healing? Is there a structural reason it is failing to close? And are there medical conditions preventing recovery? When the answer to any of those points to something that dressings alone cannot fix, we intervene surgically.
Wounds We Treat
The most common wounds we see fall into several categories.
Surgical wounds and post-operative complications are among the most frequent in our practice. These include wound openings after surgery (dehiscence), fluid collections that compromise the skin, infected or slow-healing incisions, and complex wounds following hernia repair or abdominal wall reconstruction.
Venous stasis ulcers typically develop around the lower legs and ankles. They result from chronic venous insufficiency and are marked by swelling, skin discoloration, and slow healing.
Pressure injuries develop over bony areas like the sacrum, heels, and hips. They are most common in patients with limited mobility and can range from surface-level skin breakdown to deep tissue damage.
Diabetic ulcers and other chronic non-healing wounds often have multiple contributing factors: infection, vascular disease, prior surgery, or trauma. These are the wounds that tend to cycle through outpatient care without reaching full closure.
How We Treat Wounds Differently
There is a difference between managing a wound and healing one. Most outpatient wound clinics do the first. We do the second. Here is what that looks like in practice.
We Come to the Patient
Unlike traditional outpatient wound clinics, our model is built around bringing surgical expertise directly to where the patient is. Many patients with complex wounds are medically fragile, have mobility limitations, and live with multiple underlying conditions. For those patients, getting to a clinic is often as much of a barrier as the wound itself.
We provide wound evaluations and treatment on-site in rehabilitation facilities, nursing facilities, and at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, as well as in our Rockville office. We currently serve patients across Montgomery County, Fairfax County, and Washington, DC. This allows us to evaluate wounds in the actual environment where healing is happening, or failing to happen, rather than seeing a snapshot in a clinic visit.
We Focus on Healing, Not Maintenance
Most wound clinics focus on local wound management: changing dressings, applying topical treatments, and monitoring over time. That approach works for wounds that are healing on their own, just slowly.
When a wound is not closing despite appropriate outpatient care, there is usually a reason. Dead tissue that needs to be removed. An infection that has taken hold beneath the surface. Exposed structures like tendons, bones, or mesh that dressings cannot cover. A mechanical problem like a hernia recurrence or tension on a prior closure that keeps pulling the wound open.
Our expertise covers the full range of interventions:
- Surgical debridement to remove non-viable tissue and create a clean wound bed
- Advanced wound closure strategies, including skin grafting and flap coverage
- Negative-pressure wound therapy (wound VAC), which uses gentle, controlled suction through a sealed dressing to draw out excess fluid, reduce swelling, and promote healing from the inside out
- Biologic grafts and acellular dermal matrix, a specially processed tissue scaffold that the body gradually integrates and rebuilds with its own tissue, used when natural tissue needs reinforcement or structural support
- Reconstruction when needed to restore durable tissue coverage over complex defects
We Coordinate with Your Existing Care Team
Wound healing is rarely just a wound problem. Blood sugar control, vascular supply, nutrition, and medications all play a role. We work directly with primary care physicians, endocrinologists, vascular specialists, skilled nursing facilities, and wound care agencies to make sure the full picture is addressed.
We also partner with industry leaders to access the most current wound care technologies, including advanced biologic and skin graft materials, next-generation dressings, and evidence-based regenerative products.
A Case That Illustrates the Difference
One patient came to us with a wound on his lower leg that had been open for nearly ten years. He had been seen by wound care, vascular, and dermatology services over that time. Recommendations ranged from continued observation to vascular intervention, but the wound never closed.
When we evaluated him, two issues stood out. First, there was a suspicion of underlying malignancy. An excisional biopsy confirmed squamous cell carcinoma. The patient was referred for Mohs surgery, which achieved a complete cure of the cancer that had gone undiagnosed for years.
Second, chronic venous stasis disease was contributing to impaired healing. After the cancer was addressed, the patient was left with a significant tissue defect over the tibia. We implemented a combined approach: advanced grafting for wound coverage, compression therapy for venous insufficiency, and structured wound care with close monitoring.
Within two months, the wound fully healed. Venous swelling improved. The patient was discharged from care.
Ten years of maintenance had not closed the wound. Identifying the actual cause and intervening did.
Research Behind Our Approach
Our wound care practice is grounded in published research, not just clinical experience. Our publications in this area include work on porcine acellular dermal matrix vascularization in open necrotic wounds after complex hernia repair, a comparative study of incisional negative-pressure wound therapy versus conventional dressings following abdominal wall reconstruction, and a 21-year experience with pectoralis major techniques for sternal wound reconstruction. That research informs how we approach every wound we treat.
For Referring Physicians
We view wound care referrals as an opportunity to connect patients with the right level of surgical expertise at the right time. If you are a primary care physician, specialist, or facility-based provider, here is what to know about referring to EliteCare.
When to Refer
- Non-healing wounds that have not improved despite weeks to months of appropriate outpatient management
- Wounds with necrotic tissue, deep or spreading infection, or abscess
- Exposed structures (tendon, bone, mesh) that require surgical coverage
- Post-surgical wound complications, including dehiscence, seroma with skin compromise, or chronic infection
- Complex wounds requiring grafting, flap coverage, or abdominal wall reconstruction
- Recurrent wound breakdown despite appropriate prior management
What to Include in a Referral
The more information we have up front, the faster we can get the patient scheduled and evaluated. A complete referral includes patient demographics and contact information, the primary diagnosis and brief clinical history, relevant medical history (diabetes, vascular disease, obesity, smoking status, medications), and any supporting documentation such as clinic notes, imaging, wound photos, operative reports, or relevant lab work.
Timeline
We review referrals within 24 to 48 hours. Standard consultations are typically scheduled within 3 to 10 business days. Urgent cases, including infected wounds and post-operative complications, are often seen within 24 to 72 hours.
What Happens After Referral
After reviewing the chart and triaging for urgency, we contact the patient directly to schedule. The initial evaluation includes a full history, examination, and review of all imaging and prior care. A detailed treatment plan is then shared with both the patient and the referring provider, including surgical or non-surgical recommendations, expected timeline, and any coordination needs with other specialists.
We function as an extension of your practice, not a replacement. Direct communication back to referring providers is built into our process.
To make a referral or discuss a case, call (301) 215-0127 or email moc.sseracetile@tlusnoc.
Frequently Asked Questions About Wound Care
Here are the questions we hear most from wound care patients and their families.