Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT)is a means of providing additional oxygen to the tissues of your body. This increased oxygen delivery furthers your body's ability to kill germs and to increase healing. HBOT is a supplemental therapy to be used in addition to the current medical and surgical therapy a patient is receiving.

HBOT typically is used to compliment treatments of medical problems such as bone infections, complication of radiotherapy, and certain chronic, non-healing wounds. On an emergency basis, the chamber also is used to treat problems such as carbon monoxide poisoning and decompression sickness.

The Hyperbaric Medicine Department is staffed by professionals who have received special training in hyperbaric therapy. The department is under the direction of a team of physicians who work under a referral system from a patient's personal physician.

The department's staff schedules appointments between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday, with emergency treatments available after hours.

The department is located on the Northwest wing of the 1st floor.

While hyperbaric oxygen therapy was initially used in treating divers with decompression sickness, its role has now expanded as part of the treatment plans for many other illnesses and medical conditions, it can be an important supplement to other means of treatment for medical/surgical problems, including:

• burns
• skin grafts
• smoke inhalation
• carbon monoxide poisoning
• gas gangrene
• bone infections
• soft tissue infections
• poor wound healing
• crush injuries
• diabetic wounds
• osteoradionecrosis

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