What Researchers Did
Researchers investigated the effect of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatment on tissue oxygen and carbon dioxide tensions in patients with necrotising fasciitis and healthy volunteers.
What They Found
In patients with necrotising fasciitis, arterial PO2 rose about 7-fold, while arterial PCO2 increased slightly during hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) exposure at 2.5 ATA. During HBO, subcutaneous tissue PO2 increased four to five fold from baseline, and CO2 tensions also rose, but less significantly, in both healthy and infected tissues.
What This Means for Canadian Patients
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment significantly increases tissue oxygen levels in patients with necrotising fasciitis, which could aid in combating severe infections. This suggests HBO may be a valuable adjunctive therapy to improve oxygenation in affected tissues for Canadian patients.
Canadian Relevance
This study was conducted in Finland and has no direct Canadian connection.
Study Limitations
A significant limitation of this study is its very small sample size, involving only 6 patients and 3 healthy volunteers.