Pure Oxygen Treatments Promote Wound Healing - ChristianaCare News

Vernon Tome of North East, Maryland, didn’t expect that radiation therapy treatments for prostate cancer would cause bladder and rectal bleeding, but he began experiencing these unpleasant side effects, plus anemia, after treatment. To help him heal, Tome’s doctor sent him to ChristianaCare’s Union Hospital for hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which not only helped stem the bleeding — it improved his quality of life.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a painless treatment where a patient breathes 100% oxygen in a pressurized chamber. Hyperbaric oxygen is used to treat various medical conditions such as wounds that won’t heal, bone infections and soft tissue damage caused by radiation therapy.

“When I started, I was almost at the point where I didn’t care if I lived or died,” Tome said. “When I finished, I knew I was on the road to recovery.”

“Although hyperbaric oxygen therapy isn’t widely known among patients, many physicians are familiar with its effectiveness,” said James Ley, M.D., medical director of ChristianaCare’s Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine Center. “When physicians refer their patients to us, we help them heal in ways that the patients are often surprised to experience.”

Patients taking hyperbaric oxygen therapy lie down, with pillows and blankets, in a clear acrylic tube-shaped chamber filled with pure oxygen. In this painless therapy, the chamber pressure is increased to two or three times the atmospheric pressure.

Treatments increase the amount of oxygen in the patient’s bloodstream, promoting healing. As patients inhale pure oxygen, they may listen to music, watch television or even sleep.

“People would think the chamber would make you feel claustrophobic, but I found that unless I reached out and touched the tube, I couldn’t even tell I was in a tube after I got in,” Tome said.

The most common side effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy is ear pressure, similar to what people experience on airplanes. Swallowing, yawning or wearing earplugs can help relieve the sensation.

While the number of treatments varies by patient, hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments are typically 90 minutes long, administered five days a week for at least a month. Patients get to know the staff and other patients receiving treatments.

Tome had 60 hyperbaric oxygen therapy sessions over three months. He no longer has blood in his urine his rectal bleeding has stopped — and he is pain free.

“We built a camaraderie over time,” Tome said of the ChristianaCare team. “After I was done, I missed it.”