HBOT - Burns. A short note

In India, over 10,00,000 people are moderately or severely burnt every year – WHO Updated August 2017 

Around 7 million people suffer from burn injuries each year with 1.4 lakh deaths and 2.4 lakh people suffer with disability. – National health portal, India.

The use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the treatment of thermal burns began in 1965. In 1970 Gruber, working at a U.S. Army biophysics laboratory at the Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland, devised a series of experiments placing rats in a hyperbaric chamber breathing 100 percent oxygen at sea level and at 2 and 3 atmospheres (ATA) of oxygen, respectively. He demonstrated that the area subjacent to a third-degree burn was hypoxic when compared to normal skin and that the tissue oxygen tension could only be raised by oxygen administered at pressure. This important study suggested that HBOT could have a direct effect on the pathophysiology of the burn wound.

Burns are very common, sometimes fatal, and have a high impact on the wellbeing of those affected. Recovery is often slow and complicated by infection and scarring. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is a treatment designed to increase the supply of oxygen to the burnt area and improve healing. 

In severe thermal burns tissue damage will happen leading to hypoxia (insufficient supply of oxygen) and tissue death. Tissue damage may progress due to the failure of the surrounding tissue to supply borderline cells with oxygen and nutrients necessary to sustain viability. Hypoxia will prevent normal wound healing. HBOT will accelerate wound healing by providing the oxygen needed to stimulate and support wound healing.

Burned patients have increased susceptibility to infection due to the loss of skin which acts as a barrier to bacterial invasion. HBOT can be useful in treating some of these infections. It can act by enhancing leukocyte and macrophage activity, potentiating the effects of antibiotics and act directly on anaerobic bacteria. 

To summarize, HBOT helps by continuing to promote new tissue growth, which encourages healing by aiding in the manufacturing of new blood vessels, in turn, make fibroblasts that are responsible for collagen production. In addition, HBOT reduces the body's inflammation which otherwise would slow down the healing process. Finally, HBOT also offers infection control, as oxygen is the white blood cell's weapon to kill bacteria. 

In short, serious thermal burns patient are great candidates for hyperbaric oxygen therapy due to the mitigation of ischemia reperfusion injury, the promotion of new blood vessels and tissue growth, and the control of infection.

Studies have shown that hospitalization and mortality rates among severely burned patients who receive HBOT were reduced by one third. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy decreases need for grafting, reduces hospital length of stay, and decreases total health care cost.India Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy HBOT Chamber india, HBOT Chamber india, HBOT India, India HBOT chamber, india hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber, india hyperbaric oxygen therapy indications, india hyperbaric oxygen therapy information, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy HBOT Chamber india, HBOT Chamber india, HBOT India, India HBOT chamber, india hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber, india hyperbaric oxygen therapy indications, india hyperbaric oxygen therapy information,