SlovenskyHyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Brief
During HBOT treatment, patients are inhaling 100 percent pure medical oxygen in a hyperbaric chamber. The air inside the chamber is pressurised, according an exact protocol (pressure-time profile), by a state-of-the-art multiple controlled system operated compressor. The controlled pressure does not cause the people inside the chamber any discomfort.
During treatment, patients receiving hyperbaric oxygen therapy sit comfortably in seats similar to the ones in an aircraft. If necessary, patients are lying on wheel stretchers or on special beds. The time required for treatment depends on the diagnosis and the patient's condition; usually at the pressure of 2 bar, it is approximately 2 hours. During treatment, clients can listen to the radio or CD through headphones, read a book or watch videos. For oxygen inhaling, adult patients use special breathing masks, small children get certified headtents.
The following technical parameters are carefully monitored throughout the whole therapy: oxygen concentration, pressure in the chamber and ante chamber, temperature, humidity, time of compression and decompression. Video records made during treatment are archived only if there are complications in the course of therapy.
After checking the patient's condition at the end of the treatment, we decide on the possible future therapy or medical check-up.
Mechanisms of HBOT Action
Patients breathe pure oxygen in the pressure chamber. The solubility of gases in liquids depends on pressure (at higher pressure a greater quantity of gas dissolves in the fluid).
During HBO therapy, due to the increased external pressure, much larger amount of oxygen enters the blood from the tiny air chambers called alveoli. The amount of oxygen dissolved in blood plasma can rise up to 20 times, depending on the pressure, compared to the normal level.
Blood with a higher concentration of oxygen crossing from the thin alveolar walls is transported through the bloodstream to all parts of the body. The more dissolved oxygen is in the blood, the better it gets into the organs and tissues.
When is this Treatment Effective?
Whenever the acute conditions (gas poisoning, severe crush injuries) or chronic diseases (e.g. blockage of blood vessels, calcification of arteries, etc.) reduce normal blood flow to tissues and its absence has to be compensated.
HBOT has also other positive effects:
- In almost every acute injury (e.g. contusions), but also in many chronic diseases edemas can develop. They cause pressure on the surrounding tissues and blood vessels, leading to a deterioration of their blood and oxygen supply. By HBOT the “loss“ can usually be alleviated, thereby the delivery of necessary oxygen to damaged tissues significantly improved.
- In chronic diseases and difficult-to-heal wounds, a long-term improvement can only be achieved by regeneration of thin blood vessels at the injured site. This requires a lot of energy and oxygen. We can get oxygen – which is the main source of energy generation in almost every cell of the human body – into tissues in a large quantity by HBOT. This way we accelerate the healing process of damaged tissues (e.g. burns and surgical wounds).
- As some disease bacteria may get into each open wound, preventing it from healing; it is necessary to destroy them. Usually this work is performed by leukocytes; but owing to the lack of energy and oxygen, they are not sufficiently capable to fulfil their function; and bacteria can cause infection. A higher oxygen level in blood – due to HBOT – increases the effectiveness of white blood cells - leukocytes. They are then able to kill bacteria more effectively, affect them toxically; and the bacteria are also rapidly killed by compounds formed in the presence of oxygen. This mechanism reinforces the effects of some antibiotics. Excess oxygen acts supportively to other mechanisms of the body, for example, the entire immune system
As it is true in many areas of medicine, even in this one, sill much remains to be done in the field of scientific research. For this reason, we collaborate with the best medical professionals from several disciplines.
Safety of HBOT
The course of the therapy itself is always connected with a series of safety measures overseen by the chamber operator/technician. Before the start of each treatment and at the end of it, the technician carefully checks the equipment. For any problems that might occur during treatments, there are procedures and steps worked out in advance.
The very entry into the chamber has its imperative safety rules. No flammable substances, and if possible, no synthetic fibre clothes are taken in. Since the patients are locked together in a relatively small space for hours, it is recommended to respect the privacy of each individual inside.
The technical level of the hyperbaric chamber equipment, the operators' qualifications as well as continuous professional retraining is understandably a crucial issue in AMV MEDICAL.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Indications
Doctors in our HBOT Centre make medical assessments and decisions on appropriate treatment.
- Carbon monoxide or smoke poisoning
- Decompression illness (divers and airmen)
- Gas embolism
- Acute traumatic muscle ischemia – compartment syndrome
- Crash limb injuries
- Severe anaerobic or mixed infection of soft tissues, fasciitis, myonecrosis
- Gas gangrene
- Reperfusion injury after invasive vein surgery
- Reimplantation of traumatically amputated extremities
- Postradiation damage, osteoradionecrosis, soft tissue necrosis
- Diabetic defects - foot wounds
- Ischemic ulcers and defects, persisting despite optimal treatment (ischemic gangrene)
- Stage IV neuroblastoma
- Sudden deafness after acoustic trauma
- Tinnitus
- Problematic skin grafts and free muscle flaps
- Chronic inflammation of bones (osteomyelitis)
- Selected non-healing infected defects
- Acute retinal artery closure
- Burns over 20% , stage 2 or more
- Postanoxic encephalopathy
- Pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis
- Brain hypoxia - apalic syndrome, conditions after cardiopulmonary resuscitation, poisoning, trauma, strokes
- Non-healing wounds after extensive injuries, bedsores and the like.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Contraindications
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a widely effective treatment method, but it is not a panacea - everything treating miraculous medicine. It is part of a comprehensive treatment for certain diseases or injuries and has its contraindications.
- Open pneumothorax
- Acute viral infections with high temperatures
- Untreated malignant disease
- Claustrophobia
- Pregnancy
- Spontaneous pneumothorax – in case history
- Condition after thoracic surgery – in case history
- Condition after middle and inner ear surgery
- Epilepsy
- Lung injury
- Pulmonary emphysema
- Thyroid hyperfunction
On the possibility of applying hyperbaric oxygen therapy as a treatment and on its profile (i.e. duration and frequency of treatment) will be decided after a thorough medical evaluation and consultation with the patient's treating physician.