Wound healing: the evidence for hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

This article reviews evidence for the promotion of healing using hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). HBOT is an adjuvant wound therapy that has been suggested to be beneficial for the healing of wounds for over 40 years. Current approved treatments provide 100% oxygen to a patient who is in a multi-place compression chamber accompanied inside the chamber by a trained attendant. Its ability to increase the arterial partial pressure of oxygen in the human body and facilitate oxygen transport when the body's oxygen transport system has been compromised makes it appropriate for a number of indications. Oxygen is essential for normal wound healing and contributes to a number of processes required for a healing wound. HBOT is an additional therapy and lacks the capacity to heal wounds without the application of approved wound care practice. Animal studies and clinical trials have demonstrated the benefits of HBOT on the hypovascular-hypocellular-hypoxic environment of a chronic wound when the wound has not responded to other treatments. Evidence suggests that the addition of HBOT is effective in the healing of diabetic foot ulcers but that presently this benefit is not evident at long-term follow up.