hyperbaric oxygen therapy

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is a medical therapy using 100% oxygen, administered at greater than normal atmospheric pressure, for the treatment of specific disease conditions. Normal atmospheric air that is breathed every day is only approximately 21% oxygen. There are 2 main types of chambers, multiplace and monoplace. In a multiplace chamber, 100% oxygen is administered via a hood over the patients’ heads and the chamber is pressurized. The chamber is referred to as multiplace as it is large to accommodate multiple patients and staff. In a monoplace chamber, the entire chamber is filled with 100% oxygen and pressurized. It is referred to as monoplace as typically it accommodates 1 patient, with the exception being a parent accompanying a small child. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is simply intermittent, short-term, pressurized high dosage oxygen therapy. 

At McDonagh Medical Center, we have a state-of-the-art Sechrist monoplace chamber. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is an important treatment we have offered at McDonagh Medical Center since 1982. It is a technique where a patient is placed in a sealed monoplace chamber which is pressurized, with the pressure increased to a level that is up to or slightly beyond twice the normal atmospheric pressure. This pressure drives oxygen into the liquid part of the blood called the plasma, which is oxygen poor. Typically, the red blood cells (RBCs) carry 98% of the body’s oxygen. During HBOT, the plasma becomes oxygen rich and can reach parts of the body the RBCs are too large to reach, including entering the walls of blocked arteries and crossing the blood brain barrier (BBB), which is a semi-permeable membrane. We can deliver oxygen to once unreached tissues and save them from dying while we are waiting for the circulation to be restored.

In patients who have suffered from cerebral vascular accidents (CVAs), there tends to be a part of the brain that is asleep following the incident, referred to as the penumbra. Using HBOT, the penumbra can awaken and patients may experience dramatic improvements in their disabilities, restoring function to parts of the body affected by the CVA. Hypoxic and anoxic brain injuries may also benefit substantially from HBOT. The brain is a neuroplastic organ, meaning it is able to reorganize or restructure in response to certain stimuli, including HBOT.

Dr McDonagh authored a book in 1982 entitled, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. Although parts of it are outdated, it provides a more detailed overview of the therapy along with a historical perspective on its origins.