Hyperbaric oxygen. A new adjunct in the management of radiation necrosis.

Radiation necrosis is a significant complication of surgery for previously irradiated head and neck malignant neoplasms. We used hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) as adjunctive therapy in 52 cases of radiation necrosis. Thirty-nine cases involved the head and neck. Nineteen of 23 cases of osteoradionecrosis of the mandible remain arrested after as much as two years of follow-up. Fifteen of the 16 cases of soft-tissue radionecrosis of the head and neck were successfully managed with HBO therapy as an adjunct to surgery and antibiotics. Fibroblastic proliferation, collagen formation, and capillary budding require at least 20 to 30 mm Hg of wound Po2. This effect can be achieved in wounds that are rendered hypoxic by radiation endarteritis and ischemia with high-dose or hyperbaric oxygenation.