| Hyperbaric Chamber |
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Information AboutHyperbaric Chamber |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY | |
| diving medicine | |
| medical equipment | |
| medical treatments | |
| therapy | |
| oxygen | |
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USES Several therapeutic principles are made use of in HBOT:
The main indications for HBOT are:
HBOT is recognized by conventional medicine (in the USA) as an appropriate treatment for about 14 conditions. However, alternative healing advocates of many stripes believe it is useful for many additional conditions. Among the "off label" uses of HBOT are use as a therapy for Brain healing (as in Stroke , Dementia , Cerebral Palsy ), and for some infectious conditions, such as Lyme Disease and Post-polio Syndrome . HBOT is quite expensive, with a session costing $100 to $800 in the USA. In the UK most chambers are financed by the National Health Service but there are non-profit HBOT chambers, such as those run by Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centres. THE TRADITIONAL CHAMBER The traditional type of HBOT chamber is a ''hard shelled'' Pressure Vessel . Such chambers can be run at absolute pressures up to 600 Kilopascal s or 85 lbf/in&2. Navies, diving organizations and hospitals typically operate these. They range in size from those that are portable and capable of transporting just one patient to those that are fixed, very heavy and capable of treating eight or more patients. The chamber may consist of:
In larger "multiplace" chambers, both patients and medical staff inside the chamber breathe from individual Oxygen Mask s, which supply pure oxygen and remove the exhaled gas from the chamber. During treatment patients breathe oxygen most of the time but have periodic air breaks to minimise the risk of Oxygen Toxicity . The exhaled gas must be removed from the chamber to prevent the build up of oxygen, which could provoke a fire. Medical staff may also breathe oxygen to reduce the risk of decompression sickness. The oxygen masks that are used may simply cover the mouth and nose or they may be a type of flexible, transparent helmet with a seal around the neck. The pressure inside the chamber is increased by opening valves allowing high-pressure air to enter from storage cylinders, similar to Diving Cylinder s. A Gas Compressor is used to fill these cylinders. Smaller "monoplace" chambers can only accommodate the patient. No medical staff can enter. The chamber is flooded with pure oxygen and the patient does not wear an oxygen mask or helmet. Patients inside the chamber will notice discomfort inside their Ear s as a pressure difference develops between their middle ear and the chamber atmosphere. This can be relieved by the Valsalva Maneouvre or by "jaw wiggling". As the pressure increase further, Mist may form in the air inside the chamber and the air may become warm. When the patient speaks, the Tone of the Voice may increase to the level that they sound like Cartoon characters. To reduce the pressure, a valve is opened to allow gas out of the chamber. As the pressure falls, the patient’s ears may "squeak" as the pressure inside the ear equalizes with the chamber. The temperature in the chamber will cool. CHAMBERS FOR HOME TREATMENT There are portable HBOT chambers, which are often used for home treatment. These are usually referred to as "mild chambers", which is a reference to the lower maximum pressure of soft-sided chambers. Those commercially available in the USA go up to 4.1 PSI which is equivalent to a water depth of 11 ft. These chambers are typically not operated with 100% oxygen as the breathing gas; therefore, they do not fit the actual definition of Hyperbaric OXYGEN, but are more appropriately defined as being Compressed Air Therapy. These chambers were originally developed and used for Altitude Sickness , which is a valid application. The benefits of HBOT to a number of other off label conditions such as lyme disease, cancer, stroke, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, cardiac conditions, brain injury, and other immune disorders have recently been substantiated by research. Benefits of HBOT as a treatment for autism have been hypothesized, but no randomized controlled studies for this application have been published. HISTORICAL LINK TO DIVING Initially, HBOT was developed as a treatment for Diving Disorders involving bubbles of gas in the tissues, such as decompression sickness and gas embolism. The chamber cures decompression sickness and gas embolism in several ways:
Bubbles are eventually eliminated by long exposure to pressure and high oxygen concentrations, allowing a gradual reduction of pressure back to atmospheric levels. TREATMENTS The Slang term for a cycle of pressurization inside the HBO chamber is "a dive". Emergency HBOT for diving disorders typically follows one of these two forms:
In Canada and the United States , the U.S. Navy Dive Charts are used to determine the duration, pressure and Breathing Gas of the therapy. The most frequently used tables are Table 5 and Table 6. In the UK the Royal Navy 62 and 67 tables are used. An HBOT treatment for longer-term conditions is often a series of 20 to 40 "dives". The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) publishes a "Committee Report" which compiles the latest research findings and contains information regarding the recommended duration and pressure of the longer-term conditions. COMPLICATIONS There are risks associated with HBOT, similar to some diving disorders:-
The only Contraindication to hyperbaric oxygen therapy is untreated Pneumothorax . SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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