Futuristic Hyperbaric Oxygen Service

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to provide background information on hyperbaric oxygen therapy, to review 3 research studies, and conclude if hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a plausible futuristic treatment in emergency/prehospital medicine.  

Background Information

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is a therapy which has been around for over 300 years, in 1664 a British physician built a compressed air room called a domicilium which was used to treat divers suffering from decompression sickness (Neubauer, 1998, p. 6). Hyperbaric oxygen treatment has since been used to treat additional patient conditions. The process of HBOT and the human body’s physiological response are discussed below.

Patients are placed in the HBOT chamber where one-hundred percent oxygen is administered at up to 6 times the atmospheric pressure. Earth’s oxygen saturation is 21%. Henry’s law states that if the pressure of oxygen is increased, it will diffuse into body tissues and fluids proportionally. Hence, HBOT’s increased oxygen saturation and pressure increases diffusion and allows for the affinity of oxygen to hemoglobin to exceed its normal limit. When this occurs, oxygen diffuses into plasma, lymph and cerebral spinal fluid. Perfusion is a vital part of homeostasis and effective cellular function. With HBOT this increased availability of oxygen allows for the increased availability of oxygen to tissues. Oxygen also allows the tissues of the body to release adenosine triphosphate, which provides energy to tissues and muscle, as well as conducts nerve stimulation within the nervous system (Neubauer, 1998, p.109).