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Diabetic Wounds Benefit From Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Approximately 17 million people in the United States (6% of the population) have Diabetes Mellitus, a chronic disease that greatly effects wound healing.  When diabetic patients get wounded, the risk of infection is a serious issue from the onset.  Even if infection is avoided there are a host of other abnormalities that increase the likelihood of the injury turning into a chronic poorly healing ulceration.  Studies also indicate that due to changes in the tissue within diabetic wounds, even when the wounds appear to heal, the patient is still at risk for future complications.  Consequently, diabetic wounds present a challenge to healthcare providers.

In normal wound healing, many processes occur that are known to be oxygen dependent. 

For many diabetic patients, healing is complicated by changes in the blood vessels that deliver oxygen and nutrients to the wound.  When these changes have occurred, the wounds simply may not heal because the tissues barely receive the requirements they need to survive, much less grow.  Thus the daily administration of oxygen in high concentrations has been shown to enhance the process of wound healing in otherwise oxygen-starved tissue.

During hyperbaric oxygen therapy, a patient breaths 100% oxygen in a chamber pressurized to greater than sea level.  This allows significantly more amounts of oxygen to be dissolved in the bloodstream to improve and accelerate the healing process.  By repeating this process over a period of time, a favorable environment is created for healing of difficult diabetic wounds.

For more information about diabetic wounds and hyperbaric oxygen therapy, contact the HSCMC Wound and Hyperbaric Medicine Center at HSC Medical Center at 501-332-7000.

Ann Gasper is the Marketing Coordinator for HSC Medical Center.