Hyperbaric Oxygen (HBO₂) Therapy (HBOT) is a treatment in which a patient breathes 100% oxygen intermittently while inside a treatment chamber at a pressure higher than sea level pressure (i.e., >1 atmosphere absolute; atm abs).

HBOT evolved from the knowledge gained by treating deep sea divers stricken with the bends.  Today, HBOT is an  effective medicine for several acute and chronic medical conditions.

It can be viewed as the new application of an old, established technology to help resolve certain recalcitrant, expensive, or otherwise hopeless medical problems. In certain circumstances, HBOT represents the primary treatment modality while in others it's an adjunct to surgical or pharmacologic interventions. A list and description of UHMS approved uses of HBOT can be found here.

Treatment can be carried out in either a multiplace chamber (Figure A) or a monoplace chamber (Figure B).  A multiplace chamber holds two or more people (patients, observers, and/or support personnel); the chamber is pressurized with compressed air while the patients breathe 100% oxygen via masks, head hoods, or endotracheal tubes.  A monoplace chamber accommodates a single patient only; the entire chamber is pressurized with 100% oxygen, and the patient breathes the ambient chamber oxygen directly.

According to the Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) definition and the determination of The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and other third party payors, breathing 100% oxygen at 1 atmosphere of pressure or exposing isolated parts of the body to 100% oxygen does not constitute HBOT (i.e., topical oxygen or low pressure bags). The patient must receive the oxygen by inhalation within a pressurized chamber. Current information indicates that pressurization should be to 1.4 atm abs or higher.

Figure A	Figure B
OxyHeal® 5000 10-Patient Multiplace (multiple patient) Hyperbaric Chamber University Medical Center Wound Healing & Hyperbaric Medicine Center Las Vegas, NV USA	OxyHeal® 1000 Monoplace (single patient) Hyperbaric Chamber Customized by Sechrist for the OxyLife® Health Center Clover Medical Building Kuwait City, Kuwait

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Wound Healing & Hyperbaric Medicine Centers of Excellence, please contact:

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