Burn injuries are among the most painful and difficult to heal injuries, and unfortunately incredibly common in both adults and children.
Thermal burns are the most frequent type of burn injury. They are caused by direct contact between the skin and an open heat source, eg, fire, steam, or a boiling liquid. Sunburn is also a type of thermal burn. Treatment of burns depends on where on the body the burn has occurred and how severe the damage is (eg, first, second, or third degree ). Deep or widespread burns require immediate medical attention, and some burns patients require treatment in specialised burn centres and months-long follow-up care.
Hyperbaric oxygenation can form part of a comprehensive treatment plan for a variety of burn injuries. Wound healing is divided into four stages – stopping the bleeding (your body forms a blood clot ); inflammation (once the wound is closed with a clot, the blood vessels can provide fresh nutrients and oxygen into the wound for healing ); growth and rebuilding (the different types of blood cells arrive to help build new tissue ); and strengthening (the new tissue grows stronger ). Because a burn injury damages the skin and the blood vessels the normal wound healing process is interrupted, as the blood vessels cannot reach the burned tissue until the blood vessels themselves have recovered or regrown.
Hyperbaric oxygenation works by encouraging the growth of new blood vessels to reach the damaged tissue, and by increasing the amount of oxygen being provided to the damaged tissue. The higher pressure in the chamber increases the plasma concentration in the blood, which in turn increases the oxygen delivery to damaged tissue all over the body. The new blood vessels improve the oxygenation of the burned tissue and can help it survive.
Hyperbaric oxygenation can also help in the recovery of minor or first-degree burns – it can help reduce the inflammation and healing time, help with pain management, and reduce the risk of infection. It can even help ease the pain of bad sunburn and help the skin heal. It is important that patients are aware of all of the treatment options and are able to give their full and valid informed consent to their treatment plan.
The west of Ireland has an emergency hyperbaric unit at Galway University Hospital and a private non-emergency chamber at OxyGeneration, Merchants Road, Galway. Contact 091 394 444.
