Ministry Saint Joseph’s Hospital recently introduced hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) services to Marshfield and the surrounding communities.

The Hyperbaric Medicine department at Ministry Saint Joseph's Hospital offers patients suffering from radiation injury, diabetic wounds and other various disorders the opportunity to receive this advanced treatment. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) involves the use of oxygen at greater-than-normal atmospheric pressures to treat a variety of disorders. The hospital’s two state-of-the-art, single-person hyperbaric chambers will provide a safe and non-invasive treatment for patients with difficult wounds, crush injuries, acute burns, bone infection, and radiation injury. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy supports the body’s healing process by stimulating the growth of new blood vessels and helping to control infection.

Patients receiving hyperbaric oxygen therapy are placed in one of two special chambers that administer a 100 percent oxygen rich environment. The high level of oxygen reaches the wound through the bloodstream, resulting in improved healing, greater blood vessel formation and reduced likelihood of infection. The hyperbaric chambers used by Ministry are among the largest and most comfortable available today.

During hyperbaric oxygen therapy, patients are entirely enclosed within a clear acrylic chamber that is pressurized up to three times normal atmospheric pressure. One hundred percent oxygen is delivered within this pressurized environment which increases the oxygen concentration in the blood and ultimately in the body tissues. This combination of high pressure and oxygen increases the amount of oxygen available to your body and promotes wound healing.

Each treatment session in the chamber lasts approximately two hours, with patients breathing 100 percent oxygen at 2 to 3 times normal atmospheric pressure. The patient lies comfortably inside the clear acrylic vessel during their treatment and are able to enjoy personal TV monitors with DVD players or napping during treatment.

Both chambers are monitored closely by physicians, nurses and technologists. For HBOT to be effective, patients need to commit to treatment every weekday for up to six weeks. The staff are specially trained to administer these therapies to patients with a variety of disorders including:
    * Late Radiation Tissue Injury - bone or soft tissue complications
    * Acute carbon monoxide poisoning
    * Compromised skin grafts and skin flaps
    * Problem wounds – such as diabetic foot ulcers
    * Cerebral arterial gas embolism - decompression and iatrogenically induced
    * Clostridial myonecrosis - gas gangren

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is an effective treatment for:

• Air or Gas Embolism
• Carbon Monoxide Poisoning with or without Cyanide Poisoning
• Gas Gangrene
• Crush Injury, Compartment Syndrome and Other Acute Traumatic Ischemias
• Decompression Sickness (“Bends”)
• Central Retinal Artery Occlusion
• Enhancement of Healing in Selected Problem Wounds
• Severe Anemia
• Intracranial Abscess
• Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections
• Compromised Grafts and Flaps
• Acute Thermal Burn Injury
• Sudden Sensineural Hearing Loss