For patients seeking relief from the pain of chronic wounds, the key to healing may be in the air around them: oxygen.
Oxygen may sound simple, but the delivery is highly advanced. It’s called Hyperbaric Oxygen (HBO) Therapy.
“McLaren Specialty Services offers a Hyperbaric Oxygen chamber in which patients are surrounded in 100 percent oxygen,” said Julie Snyder, program director.
The air that we normally breathe is about 21 percent oxygen. The high-intensity oxygen provided through Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy increases the amount of oxygen circulated to body tissues through a patient’s blood.
“Oxygen-enriched blood has been proven to help in preserving damaged tissues, increased blood vessel formation, infection control and ultimately wound healing,” said Musa Haffajee, M.D., for McLaren’s Wound Care Program.
“Chronic wounds can be painful and life disrupting,” stated Dr. Haffajee. “Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is another way to promote healing and bring relief to patients who suffer from them.”
When medically indicated, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is used as part of a comprehensive wound treatment regimen for patients with diabetes or circulatory problems that can lead to injuries, sores, chronic infections or gangrene.
HBO therapy can also be effective treatment to speed the healing of:
- Skin Grafts, Flaps and Replants
- Crush Injury, Compartment Syndrome, and other Acute Traumatic Ischemias
- Radiation Tissue Damage
- Chronic Refractory Osteomyelitis
- Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections
Patients treated with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy are placed in a sealed hyperbaric chamber that is pressurized to two to three times atmospheric pressure for periods between 90 to 120 minutes. The treatments are typically performed five times per week for less severe wounds and up to twice daily for more severe conditions.
Hyperbaric chambers used at McLaren Specialty Services have sophisticated features that provide for patient safety and comfort. Often, patients are able to watch television or listen to music during treatment. Treatments are supervised by a physician specialist and specially trained nurses and technicians.
While today’s hyperbaric chambers are technologically advanced, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy was developed in the late 1800s and first used to treat decompression sickness ("the bends") in deep-sea divers who swam up to the surface too fast.
While Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is indicated for a variety of medical conditions, it has been clinically proven to promote wound healing as part of a comprehensive treatment regimen, said Snyder.
Nearly five million Americans suffer from chronic nonhealing wounds, including an estimated 2.5 million of the 16 million people with diabetes, who will develop foot or leg ulcers as a result of neuropathy, or nerve damage, a complication of the disease.
McLaren Specialty Services considers a chronic nonhealing wound to be one which has not demonstrated notable improvement after four weeks, or has not healed after a period of eight weeks.
For more information about the comprehensive treatment through McLaren Specialty Services, call (810) 342-5500.