Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Fact Sheet

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Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Defined

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a medical treatment in which a patient breathes 100 percent pure oxygen intermittently while inside a pressurized hyperbaric chamber.

How it Works

During treatment sessions or “dives” in a pressurized vessel, the blood’s plasma is supersaturated with oxygen.  This increases blood and tissue oxygen content at the injury site to stimulate fibroblast proliferation, accelerate healing, fight infection and control further damage.

Key Benefits

Used as an adjunctive therapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy can:

• Accelerate healing of chronic wounds by increasing the amount of oxygen carried by the blood to wounded, injured and diseased areas
• Help fight infection and increase the effectiveness of certain antibiotics
• Encourage growth of new blood vessels in hypoxic (low oxygen despite adequate blood supply) tissue
• Decrease the risk of complications prior to and following certain surgeries
• Speed the recovery of soft tissues and bones affected by radiation therapy
• Reduce the incidence of amputation in diabetic patients with lower extremity wounds

Conditions Treated

Acute Ischemias: conditions having a rapid onset followed by a short and severe course which cause a decrease in blood supply and lack of oxygen to an extremity, organ or tissue

• Acute peripheral arterial insufficiency (blocked arteries)
• Crush injury (e.g. foot run over by car)
• Air or gas embolism, decompression illness (the “bends”)

Chronic Ischemias: conditions having a long duration or frequent recurrence rate which cause a decrease in blood supply to an extremity, organ or tissue

• Diabetic wounds of the lower extremity
• Chronic non-healing wounds
• Compromised skin grafts and flaps

What hyperbaric oxygen therapy does: Saturates area surrounding ischemic (blood and oxygen deprived) tissue with oxygen, resulting in diffusion of oxygen into areas which do not have blood flow

Delayed Radiation Tissue Injuries: prevents and treats conditions resulting from radiation therapy affecting normal, non-cancerous cells in skin, bones and organs

• Damage to bone, blood vessels, muscle and nerve cells
• Cystitis (inflammation of the bladder)
• Prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate)
• Proctitis (inflammation of the rectum lining)

What hyperbaric oxygen therapy does: Aids in the growth of new blood vessels and fibroblasts (cells that promote healing by producing collagen to prevent or treat radiated tissue wounds)

Infections:

• Chronic refractory osteomyelitis
• Gas gangrene
• Progressive necrotizing infections

What hyperbaric oxygen therapy does: Reduces or eliminates bacteria that is sensitive to oxygen; stimulates development of white blood cells that flight infection; boosts effectiveness of antibiotics by aiding movement of antibiotic across cell membrane

Poisoning:

• Carbon monoxide poisoning
• Cyanide poisoning
• Spider bites

What hyperbaric oxygen therapy therapy does: Delivers oxygen to areas where it has been blocked or overpowered by poison

Additional Uses:

• Thermal burns
• Post-surgery healing (e.g. plastic surgery)