What Researchers Did
Doctors described the case of a 66-year-old woman with diabetes and kidney failure who developed calciphylaxis, a condition where small blood vessels harden and cause painful skin ulcers, and was treated with hyperbaric oxygen after other treatments did not help enough.
What They Found
This case report describes one patient whose leg ulcers had failed to improve significantly despite wound debridement, antibiotics, and surgical removal of part of her parathyroid gland, after which she received hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Testing before treatment showed high calcium x phosphorus levels and high parathyroid hormone, and a biopsy confirmed small vessel calcification in the affected tissue. After 7 weeks of hyperbaric oxygen treatments, her ulcers had essentially healed. No information on the number of sessions per week or the pressure (ATA) used is given in the abstract.
Canadian Relevance
No direct Canadian connection identified.
Study Limitations
This is a single case report with no comparison group, and the patient also received debridement, antibiotics, and parathyroidectomy beforehand, so the healing cannot be attributed to hyperbaric oxygen alone.