The treatment of varicose leg ulcers by hyperbaric oxygen

Abstract

Summary: Hyperbaric oxygen at 2 atmospheres pressure was administered to nineteen cases of chronic varicose leg ulceration. Treatment was given for 2 hr on 5 days of each week. Bacterial infection of the ulcers was suppressed, and drying of the lesions occurred within hours of commencing treatment. Epithelialization of healthy granulation tissue was a constant feature. Simple venous ulcers consistently responded better than those cases where arterial insufficiency was present. No adverse reactions were observed. Seventeen of the nineteen patients had their ulcers healed after a mean exposure to OHP of 60·7 hr.