What Researchers Did
Researchers tested whether hyperbaric oxygen therapy could improve how well skin grafts took and how well donor sites healed in patients with traumatic wounds.
What They Found
This randomized controlled trial of 64 patients found that the group receiving hyperbaric oxygen therapy alongside standard care had higher graft uptake and faster donor site healing than the group receiving standard care alone. Mean graft uptake on day 4 was 92.44% with hyperbaric oxygen therapy versus 88.12% with standard care alone (p equals 0.036), and on day 7 it was 91.69% versus 83.12% (p equals 0.026). Donor site healing took a mean of 15.16 days in the hyperbaric oxygen group versus 17.97 days in the control group (p less than 0.001). In the control group, 2 patients had floating grafts, 4 had flap necrosis, and 1 died of sepsis; in the hyperbaric oxygen group, 1 patient had significant graft contracture and 1 had a wound infection at the recipient site.
Canadian Relevance
No direct Canadian connection identified.
Study Limitations
The trial included only 64 patients and tracked outcomes over a short window (up to day 15), so it does not show whether the graft and healing differences persist longer term.