Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Wound Care Center® Staff Technician David Thacker takes instructions from trainer Steve Barnum Monday afternoon on the uses of the hyperbaric oxygen chamber, a device that will help better treat wounds such as those affecting diabetic patients.

The Wound Care Center® at Pikeville Medical Center just completed training for two new devices that will give the facility the ability to offer hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a medical treatment that uses pressurized oxygen to aid in healing wounds. The treatment is administered by placing a patient in a comfortable pressure chamber that circulates 100 percent oxygen at two to three times atmospheric pressure.

This treatment will enable those Wound Center employees trained to use the device to assist a variety of patient needs, such as those suffering from infection in the bone, those with soft tissue that has been damaged from radiation cancer therapy and also diabetic patients at lower extremities, such as the feet or lower legs.

Austin Day, current director at PMC’s Wound Care Center®, says the two chambers will, of course, stand as a major advancement to the center’s efforts.

“We’re able to treat conditions as a last line of defense to prevent amputation,” Day said Monday.

The following day, Tuesday, would see the first patient placed under hyperbaric oxygen therapy, a woman suffering from diabetes.

Day says the treatment essentially forces oxygen into tissue around a wound that doesn’t normally get a good blood supply.

“This type of treatment would be the next step for patients at this stage,” Day said, adding that several center employees had received extensive training on the therapy itself and use of the chamber. “We have three doctors, two RNs and a respiratory therapist who have been nationally trained in hyperbaric medicine.”

This training process has been ongoing for the past two weeks leading up to Tuesday’s initial treatment and has been led by Steve Barnum, Safety and Technical Director For Wound Care Centers Inc.

The therapy itself would see the patient relax in a see-through atmosphere-controlled chamber. The internal dimensions of the chamber allow freedom of movement and is sizable enough to accommodate patients of all sizes, according to Day. During the therapy, patients may listen to music, watch television, take a nap or have conversations with staff. These treatments are considered painless and typically last between 90 and 120 minutes and are administered one to two times daily for about a five-week period of time.

Day also said this therapy can also be highly beneficial to those suffering from injuries where extremities might have been crushed, citing mining accidents as a common type in this area. “In many cases,” Day says “this is where the therapy can help avoid amputation.”