Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a medical treatment in which a patient breathes 100 per cent oxygen at pressures greater than atmospheric pressure. Under this high pressure, more oxygen is dissolved into the blood and carried to the tissues and organs. The treatment is performed in an airtight compartment called a hyperbaric chamber.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is used in treating decompression sickness. This disorder, commonly called bends, occurs when underwater divers ascend too quickly to the surface. The sudden decrease in pressure causes nitrogen to leave tissue and form bubbles. These bubbles can deform tissue and block blood vessels. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy reduces the size of the nitrogen bubbles and increases the amount of oxygen in tissues. See Bends .
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is sometimes used to treat carbon monoxide poisoning. This condition results from inhaling carbon monoxide, a gas released by burning gasoline, natural gas, oil, or other fuels. Carbon monoxide combines with hemoglobin, the substance in the blood that carries oxygen to tissues. In doing so, it prevents hemoglobin from transporting oxygen. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy displaces the carbon monoxide and enables hemoglobin to carry normal amounts of oxygen.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is also used to treat gas gangrene, a disease that kills tissue. The bacteria that cause the disorder cannot reproduce if oxygen is present. See Gangrene .
