[Hyperbaric oxygenation: utility in intensive therapy - part 2]. / Hyperbare Oxygenation - Stellenwert in der Intensivtherapie - Teil 2.

Gangrene, non-clostridial myonecroses and intracranial abscesses are clinical entities for which hyperbaric oxygenation can be used therapeutically. Mortality and invalidity can be reduced by this means. Except for gangrene, HBO is used merely as an adjuvant for these diseases when conventional surgical, antibiotic and intensive therapy measures are not sufficient. The action of HBO is based on several points of attack: it reduces the formation of oedema, inhibits the production of alpha-toxins of the Clostridia, has a bacteriotoxic action, increases the effectivity of antibiotics and improves the immune defense system. An early start is decisive for the success of HBO therapy.

[Hyperbaric Oxygenation - utility in intensive therapy - part 1]. / Hyperbare Oxygenation - Stellenwert in der Intensivtherapie - Teil 1.

Hyperbaric Oxygenation (HBO) is a medical treatment, in which a patient breathes 100 % oxygen inside a treatment chamber at a pressure higher than at sea level. The indication for HBO has to be considered whenever gas bubbles present in tissue or blood circulation (decompression sickness, gas embolism) or when a high oxygen delivery is of crucial importance (CO-intoxication, selected anaerobic soft tissue infections). HBO must never be considered as a substitute for conventional surgical or intensive care therapy, but as an adjuvant of (potentially) crucial importance.