Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy In Surgical Site Infections: A Clinical Experience

Surgical site infections are difficult complications to manage in neurosurgery practice. We aimed to evaluate the use of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO₂) therapy in neurosurgery practice through cases followed in our clinic.

HBO₂ therapy was performed in 13 cases between 2019-2022 at our neurosurgery clinic. We retrospectively evaluated the cases in terms of the age at the time of treatment, the primary pathology, the number of sessions in which HBO2 therapy was performed, the sedimentation and CRP values and radiological images.

The mean age of the cases was 55.2 ± 16.4 years. Seven of the cases were female, and six of them were male. While 9 cases had infection secondary to spinal surgery performed for different indications, 1 case had wound site infection due to cranial surgery, 1 case had infection at the cranioplasty site, 1 case had infection in the area where a pain pacemaker was inserted, and 1 case had wound site infection after a carpal tunnel syndrome operation. The cases received an average of 30 sessions of HBO₂ therapy. While a significant decrease was seen in the sedimentation and CRP values, in all cases, a significant radiological improvement was seen in all the cases that were followed. In seven cases with surgical implants, there was no need for implant revision or removal.

In our study, we observed that HBO₂ therapy is a good adjuvant treatment option to be used together with antibiotherapy in surgical site infections with and without implants, which are difficult to manage clinically.