Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatments Reviews

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) is an adjunctive therapy. Certain conditions must be met before HBO will contribute to wound healing. Among these are:

* Systemic diseases such as diabetes must be adequately treated
* Nutritional needs must be met
* Nicotine intake must be curbed
* Contraindications and risks must be considered
* Treatment for infection should be instituted
* Major blood vessel flow must be present
* Aggravating factors to the wound such as local pressure or irritation should be minimized
* Wound debridement concurrent with HBO therapy is necessary
* Sufficient HBO treatments must be undertaken before efficacy of treatment is assessed

Features of Our HBO Service
1. Referring physician remains the patient’s physician. He/She also assesses efficiency of treatment by these observations:

* Inflammation should diminish and wounds assume a noninfected appearance. (The antibacterial effect of HBO is not covered in this brochure.)
* Treatments should increase areas of granulation tissue in the wound.
* Wound edges become better defined and wound size begins to decrease.
* During preparation for and salvage of a compromised graft, deterioration of the site should be arrested and appearances occur as above.

2. HBO is used in conjunction with other treatments.

3. Certified HBO physicians and respiratory therapists in attendance during treatment.

4. A series of photographs of lesions are always taken to monitor treatment.

5. The hyperbaric chamber is large enough to accommodate up to six patients comfortably in addition to a therapist, who accompanies patients on all treatments.

6. Our Hyperbaric Medicine Service has experience with more than 8,500 treatments. Results of wound healing have been consistently satisfactory.

ultiple Sclerosis is a disease of the nervous system that results in localised patches of inflammation in the brain and spinal cord which may eventually scar (sclerosis).

In 1983 the New England Journal of Medicine reported a controlled, double-blind study on the effect of hyperbaric oxygenation on the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. It reported scientifically demonstrated benefits but recognised the need for long-term studies.

After a pilot study had confirmed this report, patients and their relatives installed pressure chambers in 56 Centres throughout the UK. Since 1982 over 12,000 UK patients have received HBOT. In most, an initial intensive course has been followed by intermittent maintenance treatment. Well over a million individual sessions have been completed without untoward incident.

It is difficult to assess the effect of any treatment on MS patients because of the unpredictable fluctuation of signs and symptoms. One authority considers that the best experimental design is to observe a large number of patients treated over a period of time. MS National therefore followed the progress of 703 patients who had first received treatment soon after the centres opened.

They were recruited from those attending 28 of the Centres. Details are given in Table 1.

Patients had been told that they had multiple sclerosis by neurologists who had said that there is no effective treatment for their condition. The co-operation of the patient’s family doctor had been obtained before they were accepted for treatment.

During HBO treatments, patients breathed 100% oxygen under pressure in HBO chambers. The initial course of treatment consisted of twenty sessions in 4 weeks. Thereafter, the patients returned for a ‘follow-on’ treatment on a weekly basis, or failing that, as often as they felt the need or found it possible.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is produced by allowing a patient to breathe very high concentrations of oxygen while placing them in a chamber and increasing the pressure around them. By increasing the pressure around a patient while they breathe oxygen, we can increase the amount of oxygen in the blood by as much as 15 times normal levels. The increased pressure condenses the oxygen molecules making more molecules available for the blood to pick up in the lung.

The goal is to increase the amount of oxygen delivered to the diseased tissue to help it to heal. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy may be used alone or in conjunction with conventional therapies. The patient is placed in a chamber of suitable size and the pressure surrounding the patient is increased by allowing oxygen to flow into the chamber.

Oxygen should be considered a drug and just as any other drug we might administer, it has various doses, frequencies of administration and duration of therapy. These depend on what disease is being treated. For example, a protocol might call for a patient to receive 2 atmospheres of pressure (like diving to 33 ft. in the ocean) for 1 hr. every other day for 7-10 treatments. Different diseases or problems require different doses, frequencies of treatment, and duration of treatment just like the use any conventional drugs.

There are many indications for this therapy. In most diseases, blood flow to the diseased tissue is compromised which in turn decreases the amount of oxygen available for tissue healing. Hyperbaric therapy is able to increase tissue oxygen levels in diseased tissue which improves and speeds healing, improves the body’s ability to fight infections, and reduces inflammation and swelling. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is both a primary treatment and a complementary therapy. Consequently, hyperbaric oxygen therapy may be used alone or in conjunction with conventional therapies.

There are many indications for this therapy. In general, any condition or disease in which the circulation to the diseased tissue has been compromised will benefit from this therapy. Hyperbaric therapy is a primary treatment for some diseases including severe smoke inhalation and burns, Clostridial and other anaerobic infections, and compromised wounds. Hyperbaric therapy is potentially beneficial in other diseases: