Volume : 3, Issue : 5, MAY 2017

INTENSE HYPERBARIC OXYGEN TREATMENT FOR ISOLATED LIMB

Alan S. Coulson MD ABPM/UHM, Cynthia McLemore MD

Abstract

Conventional hyperbaric oxygen treatment requires the whole patient be enclosed in a chamber and subjected to the increased oxygen pressure, even though the target for therapy might be a small ulcer on the foot. This approach means that out of considerations for the potentially harmful effects of hyperbaric oxygen on the lungs, brain and heart, the dives are limited in depth and time. Thus multiple treatment cycles are necessary. This paper outlines a theoretical new approach wherein the limb is temporarily isolated from the body’s circulation and hyperbaric blood is delivered to the limb by way of retrograde femoral cannulas with occluding balloons. Since the major organs of the body are not exposed to the circulating hyperbaric blood, dives can be deeper, as much as 5 Atmospheres Absolute, (1 ATA = 760 mm Hg; hence 5 ATA = 3800 mm Hg); and longer, possibly 6 to 8 hours. Since, also, there is no contact with the liver or kidneys, much higher doses of vancomycin may be used concomitantly with the hyperbaric blood, possibly in the range of 10 to 20 grams. In the treatment of malignancies in the limb, similar increases in chemotherapy agents could be used.

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References

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