No more ulcers

FOR DIABETICS

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is effective in facilitating speedy recovery of foot ulcers and other wounds, which are resistant to standard treatment, writes Dr M Nagaraja

Diabetic foot ulcer is a common complication of diabetes. As a consequence of nerve damage and poor blood circulation, people with diabetes are vulnerable to foot sores. In the absence of adequate diabetes management, foot sores may quickly turn stubborn and can have a lasting impact on the quality of patients’ lives. Chronic and non-healing foot ulcers can severely damage the surrounding tissues and bone, and may eventually require amputation or surgical removal of a toe, foot or part of the leg.

Although proper diabetes management and self-care measures are the best preventive means against foot ulcers, the conventional medical interventions for treating diabetic ulcers include one or more of the following - use of therapeutic footwear, daily saline or similar dressings, surgical removal of gashed or contaminated tissue (if necessary), and antibiotic therapy, if deep skin or bone infection is present.

Whilst the conventional therapies may take time in healing the wounds, a novel treatment modality - Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) in recent times has proven to be effective in facilitating speedy recovery of foot ulcers and other wounds, which are otherwise resistant to standard treatment. Pain-free and non-invasive, HBOT is a boon for patients suffering from stubborn wounds as it spurs healing through natural mechanisms of the body.

HBOT involves breathing pure oxygen in a special chamber known as hyperbaric oxygen chamber. In the hyperbaric oxygen chamber, a patient breathes 100 percent oxygen. Under these conditions, the blood carries much more oxygen to all cells of the body, thereby improving vital tissue function. This increase in blood oxygen level stimulates the internal healing process through a number of mechanisms.

Case of varicose veins

Venous leg ulcers, which commonly occur as a result of varicose veins, can also be effectively treated through HBOT. Normally painless, in severe cases, they may rupture as a result of damaged valves in the veins and increased pressure of blood, leading to ulceration. People who are in professions which require standing for long durations (teachers, bus conductors, traffic police) are more susceptible to developing varicose veins and venous leg ulcers because standing increases the pressure in the veins of lower body. Ageing, family history and obesity are also risk factors. The conventional treatment includes dressing, skin care, antibiotics, compression bandaging and surgery, in some cases. However, these treatments may take months to heal the venous leg ulcers completely.

On the contrary, in the case of HBOT, depending upon the severity of the ulcers, the number of therapy sessions may range between two and thirty, with each session lasting for about one to two hours. As a result of the remarkable recovery outcomes, HBOT has become quite popular in the western world. In India, too, there are a few hospitals, which offer this treatment modality.

(The author is consultant radiologist, Medivision, Bengaluru)