By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System is using a new approach to treating chronic lung conditions with the Zephyr Endobronchial Valve treatment.
"It's specifically for patients with the emphysema, kind of lung destructive disease," said Chuck Welch with the hospital. "Part of what happens with emphysema patients is their lungs get hyperinflated. Portions of their lung become distended and swollen and really less useful."
Welch explains how Dr. Mo Al-Halawani fixes that issue.
"Dr. Mo can just go in through the windpipe," Welch said. "He finds that same area that they may want to collapse or shut down and he puts essentially what are one way valves in those little airways. As you exhale, the air leaves that portion of the lung that he's isolated and when you inhale, the air can't get back in there, so over time, that area deflates and shrivels up, just like an empty balloon would."
This results in patients breathing easier and experiencing less shortness of breath. An estimated 15 million Americans suffer from COPD, 3.5 million of which also have emphysema. HRMC is only the second hospital in Kansas to do the procedure.