Hyperbaric Medicine Procedures

Extra oxygen, more than the blood can normally deliver to the body, is a massive benefit for the healing and treatment of many different sorts of illnesses and injuries. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, administered via hyperbaric chambers, serves as a primary and supplemental healing tool.

Significance

• Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is the medical procedure of being administered 100 percent oxygen under increased atmospheric pressure. The patient enters a sealed hyperbaric chamber that controls the flow of oxygen and air pressure. The pressure itself is usually set from two to three times normal "outdoor" pressure.

  "Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, as this treatment is called, is a painless procedure that can have dramatic results in certain diseases," says the Duke University Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology. "For example, when a wound does not heal because of insufficient blood supply, hyperbaric oxygen can increase blood vessel growth into the wound, and permit skin grafting or spontaneous healing. Hyperbaric therapy can be a treatment by itself, for example decompression illness in scuba divers or carbon monoxide poisoning, but for most conditions it is an adjunct to other care delivered by physicians and surgeons."

Primary Uses

• The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) formed a committee in 1976 that established a list of conditions for which HBOT should always be approved as a medical procedure. Among those is decompression sickness, also known as "the bends." Injuries where tissues have been damaged from gunshot wounds, falls or motor vehicle accidents can benefit from HBOT with increased oxygen available to the affected wounds, improving healing and fighting off infection.

  The therapy is also highly recommended for thermal burn injuries, skin grafts, flap grafts, the healing of wounds which won't respond to typical medical treatment (usually when amputation of a limb is likely), delayed radiation injury, gas gangrene, anemia and excessive blood loss and intracranial abscess.

Other Conditions

• Richard A. Neubauer and Morton Walker in their book "Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy" report a large number of additional conditions that have been treated with HBOT. These include stroke, brain and spinal chord injuries, migraine headaches, sensory problems, multiple sclerosis, bone disorders, complications from radiation treatment and cosmetic surgery, circulatory problems and AIDS.

Chambers

• Hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves three distinct phases; compression, treatment and decompression. In small (monoplace) chambers the patient lies flat while the area is filled with 100 percent% oxygen. In large (multiplace) chambers individuals sit upright while an oxygen hood or a valve mask delivers a specific ratio of oxygen through each device. These larger chambers often have space for 12 or more people so it's likely that several patients will share the space. Hyperbaric medicine procedures are closely monitored during this treatment by chamber operators, and a supervisor. In the large chambers, occasionally a hospital or clinic employee will be present inside the unit to assist patients.

Treatment

• When the pressure prescribed by a physician has been reached, patients in most chambers may read, watch television or listen to the radio. Depending upon the specific medical condition, treatment time will vary between one and two hours. Depending upon the facility and the illness, some patients may breathe 100 percent oxygen for a set period of time, take a short break with normal oxygen intake, then resume treatment with 100% oxygen.