Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatment is the therapeutic benefit of oxygen under pressure used to aid in wound healing. Oxygen is essential to all stages in the wound healing process, where an insufficient supply is the most common cause for delay. By increasing the amount of oxygen in red blood cells and plasma utilizing HBO treatments, we can stimulate wound healing by:

  • Creating an immediate aerobic state
  • Deactivating toxins and poisons
  • Enhancing the body’s ability to fight bacterial and viral infections
  • Removing free radicals
  • Reducing inflammation
  • Reducing tissue swelling
  • Stimulating the growth of new capillaries to injured areas to promote wound healing

Conditions Treated with HBO Therapy

  • Acute carbon monoxide intoxication
  • Gas gangrene
  • Acute traumatic peripheral ischemia
  • Crush injuries
  • Progressive necrotizing infections
  • Acute peripheral arterial insufficiency
  • Preparation and preservation of compromised skin grafts
  • Chronic refractory osteomyelitis
  • Osteoradionecrosis
  • Soft tissue radionecrosis
  • Diabetic wounds of the lower extremities

HBO Therapy Process

HBO therapy is an outpatient procedure that is provided five days a week for approximately four to six weeks. Once patients enter the hyperbaric chamber, oxygen will begin to circulate as a technician starts the gradual increase in pressure. Some patients experience a temporary warmth, but after the initial compression period, the temperature regulates. The compression period generally lasts between 10 and 15 minutes, and once complete, patients will remain in the chamber for 1.5 to 2 hours. Near the end of treatment, the technician will gradually decrease the pressure inside the chamber.

Find an HBO Treatment Center

Dignity Health offers HBO therapy at two of our Wound Centers in the Greater Sacramento region:

Comprehensive Wound Care Center:
Mercy San Juan Medical Center
6501 Coyle Avenue, Carmichael, CA 95608
916.537.5040

Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital
155 Glasson Way, Grass Valley, CA 95945
530.272.8619