Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Air Gas Embolism (AGE)
Air embolism occurs when gas bubbles (emboli) block arterial blood flow. Secondary effects of air embolism include platelets clumping all over and damage to blood vessel walls. Obstructed vessels leak fluid into surrounding tissues. The resulting swelling further reduces tissue blood flow.
Although AGE is a major cause of death in diving, it far more often results iatrogenically (caused by medical care) from surgical, treatment, and diagnostic procedures.
The Benefits of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and AGE
Early recompression therapy reduces bubble volume and drives gas into physical solution, while high oxygen pressure washes out inert gas from the bubbles.
Higher oxygen levels create a large diffusion gradient for inert gas to leave bubbles.
With restored blood flow, poorly oxygenated tissues receive more oxygen, and local swelling subsides.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy reduces ischemic-reperfusion injury.
You MUST NOT DELAY treatment and diagnostic work-up and clinical evaluation for Air Gas Embolism.
Carbon Monoxide Toxicity
Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless poison gas formed by incomplete combustion. Carbon monoxide is a rare cause of diving problems, and is the most common cause of death in fire victims. Carbon monoxide poisoning is easily missed and underdiagnosed as a cause of headaches, fatigue, dizziness, and other neurologic complaints.
Sources of Carbon Monoxide: Exhaust gases from cars, propane heaters, furnaces, barbecue grills, house fires, smoking and even paint stripper which is a source of methylene chloride - which is metabolized into CO.
CO mainly affects the heart and brain. CO poisoning has many components including hypoxia, cellular toxicity, and brain injury from leukocytes behaving badly.
Some Signs and symptoms of CO poisoning are:
Headaches, dizziness, weakness, nausea, tachycardia, tachypnea and occasionally retinal changes just to name a few.
Benefits of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy with Carbon Monoxide Toxicity
HBOT (Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy) speeds the carboxyhemoblobin dissociation and improves tissue oxygenation.
HBOT reduces cerebral edema and intracranial pressure by constricting brain vessels.
HBOT inhibits the toxic process, speeds recovery, reduces the number delayed functional and neurologic abnormalities and reduces mortality. HBOT stops lipid peroxidation, a component of reperfusion injury, helping prevent brain injury.
Radiation Injury Effects, Thermal Burns
Radiation damage occurs in every tissue and organ radiated, to varying degrees, leading to a progressive obliterative endarteritis (inflammation of the insides of arteries.) that causes tissue ischemia and fibrosis.
The endarteritis, fibrosis, and hypoxia may also cause other problems: radiated bowel syndrome, radiation mucositis, soft tissue radionecrosis, laryngeal radionecrosis, dermatitis, radiation cystitis, osteoradionecrosis, enteritis, laryngeal radionecrosis, and surgical wounding in radiation-damaged tissues (late radiation effects).
After radiation a small percentage of patients develop soft tissue or bone necrosis; progressive, disabling, painful, and potentially fatal due to tissue breakdown and loss of protective barriers.
Radiation Injury and the Benefits of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
A United States Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Service "Health Technology Assessment Report on the Treatment of Soft Tissue Radionecrosis" concluded, "there is little controversy in the medical community regarding the safety and effectiveness of HBO2 as an adjunctive therapy in the treatment of soft tissue radionecrosis..."
Surgery in previously irradiated tissue is problematic and associated with fatalities. Adjunctive HBOT has changed this by improving tissue healing, resolving radiation necrosis, preventing radiation necrosis, and supporting reconstructive surgery in irradiated tissues.
Mechanism of delayed healing following radiation injury involves lack of clear border of injury. The gradual oxygen gradient is insufficient to trigger healing. HBOT creates a steep artificial gradient, which triggers growth of new blood vessels and collagen production.
Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections
Necrotizing soft tissue infections involve bacterial invasion causing local tissue trauma, ischemia, and death. The infection may stem from diabetic foot infection, surgical wound infection, puncture wounds, and trauma like lawn mower accidents where dirt and debris is forced into the wound.
Necrotizing infections are often associated with reduced body defenses from alcoholism, malnutrition, or drug abuse, and from underlying systemic disease, such as diabetes, cancers, and vasculopathy. Local tissue oxygen demand increases with growing infection, increasing the anaerobic environment. Oxygen tension below 30 mmHg impairs leukocyte ability to kill bacteria. A downward cycle continues.
Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections and the Benefits of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Leukocytes can kill bacteria only when they have enough oxygen available to them. Improved oxygenation improves white cell function to clear bacteria. Organisms most affected by oxidation are those involved in abscess formation and wound infection. HBOT provides oxygen at the cellular level, promoting wound healing.
Increased Partial Pressures of Oxygen may decrease neutrophil adherence (white blood cells sticking to blood vessel linings) which damages the vessel linings.
Multiple Sclerosis
MS is a chronic, unpredictable neurological disease that affects the central nervous system. The most common symptoms include changes in cognitive function, dizziness, emotional changes, fatigue, difficulty in walking, plasticity of muscles and vision problems.
By breathing pure oxygen while under increased air pressure many people find relief from their symptoms and, it is thought, some help in slowing down the progression of the disease. The main aim is to stabilize the patient's condition and improve the quality of life. Many MS patients report improvements in their overall symptoms and their function ability. Patients have reported improvements with their ataxia, numbness in their fingers and hands, balance, visual fields, concentration, pain, weakness and dizziness. It has been shown that most often, improvement can be achieved in bladder-bowel disorders.
A recent study sited by the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrated compelling evidence of improvements in MS symptomology. Forty chronic Multiple Sclerosis patients, in the advanced stages of the disease, were treated with hyperbaric oxygen. 70% of those treated received relief from the effects of MS after the 20 study treatments.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid Arthritis is a systemic inflammatory disease of a chronic nature that is characterized primarily by a pattern of involvement of the synovial joints. The inflammatory process may involve soft tissues such as tendons, ligaments, and muscle, and may invade the bone.
The etiology of the disease is uncertain but suspected causes include immunological disturbances and infectious agents. Hypoxia (lack of oxygen) of the arthritic patient is evidenced by low synovial pO2 levels.
The causes for hypoxia are: Increased metabolic demand for oxygen by an inflamed joint and decrease of blood flow to the joint by raised intraarticular pressure.
HBOT can suppress sterile inflammation due to immunologic factors or microbial infection.