Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy is an unusual malady that follows trauma or surgery. While rare, there appears to be a lot of cases undiagnosed. A patient breaks a leg or has surgery on a limb; then for some unknown reason, during the healing process, the sensory and motor nerves become entangled with autonomic nerves (i.e., neves that control involuntary responses such as blood pressure, etc.) and the patient is left with severe pain in the effected limb.
Recently, an Italian study suggests that multiple treatments in a Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber seem to help the course of this debilitating disorder. The patient usually requires 15-20 sessions in the chamber. There is some suggestion that children with this disorder can be helped with just a few treatments in the hyperbaric chamber.
I share this with you, our patients, because we have two chambers that we use primarily for gangrene and multiple sclerosis patients. Anyone with this disorder should know that Hyperbaric Oxygen may offer some hope to these patients.