Hyperbaric medicine is an emerging speciality of medicine which delivers oxygen
at greater-than-atmospheric pressures to treat a variety of disorders. For some
years now Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy has been recognised as the definitive treatment
for decompression illness, air embolism and carbon monoxide poisoning.
Today Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is being used successfully to treat such conditions
as deep-seated acute and chronic hard and soft tissue infections, hypoxic non-healing
wounds, compromised soft tissue flaps and grafts, and management of wounds in
irradiated tissue.
The complex process of wound healing in individuals whose internal powers of
healing are hindered presents a considerable medical challenge. In Hyperbaric
Oxygen Therapy, patients are comfortably enclosed in a hyperbaric chamber.
Fully trained technicians are stationed inside and outside the chamber, which
is slowly pressurised to 2.5 atmospheres absolute, which equals the pressure
of 15 metres of sea water. When under pressure, the patient breathes 100% O2
via a mask or hood.
This combination of O2 and pressure physically dissolves oxygen in the plasma.
At 2.5 atmospheres pressure the patients arterial O2 partial pressure is approximately
1500mm of mercury (PaO2).
