The author describes the history of and potential medical uses for hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy, a useful adjunct to more established therapies.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been used to successfully treat perineal Crohn's disease. We describe the first successful use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the treatment of ulcerative colitis, refractory to conventional therapies. Therapy consisted of 30 courses of 100% oxygen at a pressure of 2.0 atm absolute. Clinical remission was achieved on the basis of the Truelove-Witts and disease acti...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy as an adjunctive treatment in mediastinitis after coronary artery bypass surgery. METHODS This is a retrospective descriptive study, performed between October 2010 and February 2012. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy was indicated in difficult clinical management cases despite antibiotic therapy. RESULTS We identified 18 patients with media...

Use of mild hyperbaric oxygen less than 2 atmospheres absolute (2026.54 hPa) with normal air is emerging as a common complementary treatment for severe muscle injury. Although hyperbaric oxygen at over 2 atmospheres absolute with 100% O2 promotes healing of skeletal muscle injury, it is not clear whether mild hyperbaric oxygen is equally effective. The purpose of the present study was to invest...

Searching MEDLINE and government databases (e.g. the Defense Technical Information Centre, the National Technical Information Service, and the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society database) were searched using the terms 'carbon monoxide', 'carbon monoxide poisoning', 'delayed neurologic sequelae', 'hyperbaric oxygen', 'normobaric oxygen' and 'hyperbaric therapy'. Bibliographies of retrieved ...

OBJECTIVE To study the effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on tissue lesions in an experimental model of acute pancreatitis induced by pancreatic duct ligation. ANIMALS Forty-eight adult female Wistar rats were randomized into two groups (n=24): control group and hyperbaric oxygen therapy group. INTERVENTION The second group was treated with a two-hour daily session of hyperbaric oxygen th...

Thom SR. Oxidative stress is fundamental to hyperbaric oxygen therapy. J Appl Physiol 106: 988 –995, 2009. First published October 9, 2008; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.91004.2008.—The goal of this review is to outline advances addressing the role that reactive species of oxygen and nitrogen play in therapeutic mechanisms of hyperbaric oxygen. The review will be organized around major categories of...

PURPOSE To investigate de adjunctive effect of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in a group of patients with refractory Crohn's disease. METHODS A total of 29 subjects with refractory Crohn's disease were submitted to daily sessions of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, in a 2800 Sechrist Monoplace Hyperbaric Chamber (Sechrist, USA) pressurized to 2.4 ATA. Each session lasted 2 hours. The endpoint was closur...