Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 2, 2026
Development of a Benchtop Model for Evaluating the Compatibility of Wound Dressing Materials with Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Systems
Published on: May 2, 2025
Evaluation of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for chronic wounds
Takashi Ueno1, Tokuya Omi, Eiji Uchida
1Department of Cutaneous and Mucosal Pathophysiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School.
Insights
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) shows effectiveness in healing chronic wounds when combined with standard care. However, its efficacy is reduced in diabetic patients undergoing hemodialysis.
Area of Science:
- Dermatology
- Vascular Medicine
- Oxygen Therapy
Background:
- Chronic wounds present a significant clinical challenge, often resisting conventional treatments.
- Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has emerged as a complementary approach to standard wound care.
- Evaluating HBOT's role in diverse chronic wound etiologies is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the effectiveness of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) as an adjunct treatment for chronic wounds.
- To analyze HBOT outcomes across various chronic wound causes at a single institution.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of 29 patients with chronic wounds treated with HBOT (100% oxygen at 2.8 ATA) and standard care.
- Wound etiologies included diabetes mellitus, venous stasis, and vasculitic conditions.
- Response categorized as excellent, good, fair, or poor based on healing criteria and size reduction.
Main Results:
- Overall, 14 patients (48%) showed good to excellent responses to HBOT.
- 11 patients (38%) had a fair response, requiring further interventions.
- All 4 patients (14%) with a poor response had diabetes mellitus and were on hemodialysis.
Conclusions:
- Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is a viable adjunctive treatment for chronic wounds of various origins.
- HBOT demonstrates reduced efficacy in diabetic patients, particularly those on hemodialysis, due to negative impacts on wound healing.
- Combination therapy including HBOT can improve outcomes for challenging chronic wounds.
Background:
Treating chronic wounds is challenging. Despite standard wound care, some chronic wounds fail to heal. Therefore, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) was developed as an adjunct to standard wound care.
Objective:
To evaluate the efficacy of HBOT for treating chronic wounds due to a variety of causes at our institution.
Methods:
We reviewed the medical records of patients with chronic wounds treated with HBOT in addition to standard wound care at the Department of Dermatology, Nippon Medical School Hospital, from 2009 through 2012. Twenty-nine patients were reviewed (14 men and 15 women; mean age, 64.1±14.4 years). The cause of chronic wounds was diabetes mellitus (DM) in 13 patients, venous stasis in 10, polyarteritis nodosa cutanea in 2, and livedoid vasculopathy, pyoderma gangrenosum, chronic renal failure, and systemic sclerosis in 1 patient each. The patients underwent HBOT for 60 minutes with 100% oxygen delivered via a mask in a hyperbaric chamber pressurized to 2.8 atmospheres of absolute pressure. The response of the chronic wounds to HBOT was evaluated according to the following criteria: "excellent": more than 90% wound healing; "good": a greater than 30% reduction in wound size, and wound healing was confirmed on follow-up visits within 6 weeks; "fair": wound healing was achieved with a combination of further invasive interventions; and "poor": the wound showed a less than 30% reduction or worsened during HBOT, or wound healing had not been completed by follow-up visits within 6 weeks.
Results:
The response to HBOT was "excellent" in 6 patients, "good" in 8, "fair" in 11, and "poor" in 4. All 4 patients with a "poor" response had DM and had undergone hemodialysis.
Conclusions:
HBOT is an effective treatment for patients with chronic wounds, due to a variety of causes, when used in combination with conventional standard therapy or further interventions. However, HBOT is less effective in patients with DM than in patients with venous stasis because hemodialysis, which is more common in patients with DM, has negative effects on wound healing.
Related Concept Videos
01:16Treatment for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: Oxygen Therapy for Respiratory Failure
Oxygen therapy is vital in increasing and maintaining blood oxygen levels in PAH patients. As a result, it aids in reducing fatigue,...
01:19Respiratory Assessment: Purpose and Indications
Objectives and Importance:
The primary goal of respiratory assessment is to evaluate patients at early risk of clinical deterioration. Since respiratory distress often precedes other signs of declining health, breathing patterns and sounds become a...
01:26Varicose Veins II: Diagnostic Studies and Interprofessional Care