Hyperbaric Oxygen in Medicine

Abstract

Oxygen is a gas at room temperature and 1 atm. It is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. It is the most abundant element by mass in both the Earth's crust and the human body. It is second to nitrogen as the most abundant element in the atmosphere. There are many commercial uses for oxygen gas, which is typically obtained through fractional distillation. It is used in the manufacture of iron, steel, and other chemicals. It is also used in water treatment, as an oxidizer in rockets, for medicinal purposes, and in petroleum refining (Krieger and Anja, 2010). Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) is an effective adjuvant therapy in conditions where normal healing is impaired. In HBO 100 percent oxygen at two to three times the atmospheric pressure at sea level is administered and this result in arterial oxygen tension in excess of 2000 mmHg and oxygen tension in tissue of almost 400 mmHg. Oxygen doses of such have many beneficial biochemical cellular and physiologic effects (Gabb and Robin, 2013). There are two types of hyperbaric chambers, monoplace and multiplace chambers. Monoplace chambers

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have a small air tight cylinder for patient placement. The chamber is then filled with pressurized pure oxygen. Only auditory and visual communication is possible and patient cannot be physically examined. In multiplace chambers several patients can be treated at the same time and the patient just breaths the hyperbaric oxygen through endotracheal tube or air tight mask, and they can be clinically monitored by nurses or physicians throughout the procedure (Boussi et al., 2013). The discovery of beneficial cellular and biochemical effects has strengthened the rationale for administering hyperbaric oxygen as primary therapy in patients with severe carbon monoxide poisoning, decompression sickness, and arterial gas embolism, and as adjunctive therapy for the prevention and treatment of osteoradionecrosis, clostridial myonecrosis, and compromised skin grafts and flaps. The physiologic effects of hyperbaric oxygen on plasma oxygen content make this therapy the treatment of choice in severe anemia when transfusion is not an option. There is less scientific support for the other uses of hyperbaric oxygen