Hyperbaric oxygen therapy utilizes a pressurized chamber and pure oxygen to increase delivery of the gas to the body organs and tissues. The body cells use oxygen to generate energy and perform metabolic functions. Illnesses and conditions that interfere with oxygen delivery to the tissues or occur because of reduced tissue oxygen levels often respond to hyperbaric therapy.
Decompression Sickness
Decompression sickness, also known as "the bends," occurs when a sudden decrease in the pressure surrounding the body causes dissolved gases to come out of liquid form, leading to gas bubbles in the tissues and bloodstream. Symptoms of decompression sickness may include severe joint pain, itching, bluish skin discoloration, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, weakness, numbness, tingling, confusion, impaired balance, shortness of breath and coughing.
Hyperbaric therapy is the mainstay of treatment for decompression sickness. Placing the patient in the pressurized treatment chamber forces gas bubbles back into liquid form. The patient exhales the redissolved gases through the lungs. For mild cases of decompression sickness, a single hyperbaric treatment may prove sufficient to rid the body of trapped gas bubbles. Patients with decompression sickness involving the brain and nervous system typically require multiple hyperbaric treatments.
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Carbon monoxide is an odorless, toxic gas emitted during the combustion, or burning, of fuels. Common sources of carbon monoxide include gas or kerosene space heaters, motor vehicle exhaust, fireplaces and wood stoves and gasoline-powered generators. Accumulation of carbon monoxide in a closed, unventilated space can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning.
Carbon monoxide tightly binds to the oxygen-carrying substance hemoglobin in the red blood cells. When high levels of carbon monoxide bind to hemoglobin, the red blood cells lose the capacity to transport oxygen to the body tissues, often resulting in permanent damage. The brain proves particularly vulnerable to carbon monoxide poisoning damage. To reduce the risk of permanent brain injury, doctors often use hyperbaric oxygen therapy to treat patients with severe carbon monoxide poisoning. Increasing the amount of dissolved oxygen in the blood during hyperbaric therapy may displace carbon monoxide from the hemoglobin molecules. The unbound carbon monoxide leaves the bloodstream through the lungs, restoring the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood.
In an October 2002 article published in The New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Lindell Weaver and colleagues report that patients treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy for carbon monoxide poisoning were significant less likely to have permanent brain effects compared to patients who did not receive hyperbaric treatment.
Non-healing Wounds
Non-healing wounds, such as diabetic foot ulcers and wounds caused by cancer radiation therapy, may respond to hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Highly concentrated oxygen may encourage new blood vessel growth in the damaged tissue, leading to wound healing. In a May 2010 article published in the medical journal Diabetes Care, Dr. Magnus Löndahl and colleagues report that the addition of hyperbaric oxygen therapy to standard treatment for non-healing diabetic ulcers significantly improves the rate of complete ulcer healing.
References
- U.S. Navy Diving Manual: Diagnosis and Treatment of Decompression Sickness and Arterial Gas Embolism
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Carbon Monoxide
- The New England Journal of Medicine; "Hyperbaric Oxygen for Acute Carbon Monoxide Poisoning"; Lindell K. Weaver, M.D., et al.; October 2002
- New York-Presbyterian Hospital: Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
- Diabetes Care; "Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Facilitates Healing of Chronic Foot Ulcers in Patients With Diabetes"; Magnus Löndahl, M.D., et al.; May 2010
