What Researchers Did
Researchers conducted a randomised controlled trial involving 83 patients to investigate the effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on late-healed wounds after pharyngeal and laryngeal cancer surgery.
What They Found
Patients receiving hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy showed significantly faster wound healing compared to controls. For instance, average healing time for necrosectomy wounds was 27.50 days with HBO versus 45.00 days for controls (P < 0.01). Similarly, pharyngeal fistulas healed in 8.50 days with HBO compared to 14.09 days in controls (P < 0.01), and infected wounds healed in 5.93 days versus 8.62 days (P < 0.01).
What This Means for Canadian Patients
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy could potentially accelerate the healing of complex surgical wounds following head and neck cancer surgery. This might lead to reduced hospital stays and improved recovery for Canadian patients experiencing delayed wound healing.
Canadian Relevance
This study was not conducted in Canada and does not have a direct Canadian connection.
Study Limitations
The study was conducted in a single center and involved a relatively small number of patients, which may limit the generalizability of the findings.