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10 Hyperbaric Oxygenation Therapy KCE Reports 74 Condition Table 1. Indications accepted by UHMS (2003) Condition Air or gas embolism Carbon Monoxide poisoning (whether or not complicated by cyanide poisoning) Clostridial Myositis and Myonecrosis (Gas gangrene) Crush injuries, compartment syndrome and other acute ischemias Decompression Sickness Enhancement of Healing in Selected Problem Wounds Exceptional anaemia Intracranial abscess Necrotising soft tissue infections Refractory osteomyelitis Delayed radiation injury including soft tissue and bone necrosis Skin grafts and flaps Thermal Burns Source: UHMS. 8 In 2004 the European Committee for Hyperbaric Medicine (ECHM) held its 7 th European Consensus Conference on Hyperbaric Medicine, where they also agreed on a list of indications (see Table 2). 9 In many aspects this list is similar to the one from UHMS, although it should be understood that definitions used by different societies do not always completely overlap. Moreover, there are also important differences for specific indications and recommendations as will be pointed out in the detailed description of the indications. Sudden deafness for example, one of the most important indications for HBOT use in Belgium is not on the current UHMS list. The differences and similarities between both lists will be addressed in more detail in the next chapter. Table 2. Indication accepted by the ECHM (2004) Carbon Monoxide (CO) intoxication Decompression Accident Gas Embolism Anaerobic or mixed anaero-aerobic bacterial infections (necrotizing soft tissue infections and selected cases of organ abscesses) Acute Soft Tissue Ischemia (crush injuries, traumatic amputated limb segments, with recommended transcutaneous oxygen pressure measurement) Radio-induced Lesions Delayed wound healing (ischemic lesions or selected non-healing wounds secondary to inflammatory processes) Chronic refractory osteomyelitis Post-anoxic encephalopathy Burns Sudden Deafness Ophtalmological Disorders Neuroblastoma Stage IV Pneumatosis Cystoides Intestinalis Source: ECHM. 9
KCE Reports 74 Hyperbaric Oxygenation Therapy 11 Apart from these ‘accepted’ indications there is a multitude of other conditions for which more or less evidence is available, but where treatment is mainly experimental. Those indications for which evidence is available will also be briefly described in the next chapter. 2.4 POTENTIAL HARMS, SAFETY AND PRECAUTIONS HBOT appears to be relatively safe with few serious adverse effects. Adverse effects are often mild and reversible but could, potentially, be severe and life threatening. 1, 11 As a consequence, strict precautions must be taken while administering HBOT to avoid those complications. In addition, proper installation and maintenance of a HBOT facility and adequate staffing with specifically trained personnel is pivotal. There is always a risk, albeit small, of fire and explosion and it may also be difficult to deal with medical emergencies, especially if a patient is isolated in a chamber. In some countries, such as France, it is reported that the use of monoplace chambers has been completely abandoned and there appears to be growing consensus that the use of monoplace chambers should be avoided. 2.4.1 Barotrauma Barotrauma is a general term to indicate injury to a tissue through the action of differential pressures and it can occur in body areas where tissue and gas interface, such as the middle ear, the sinuses and the lungs. Middle ear barotrauma is the most commonly reported acute side effect of HBOT, and it was reported to occur in 2% of patients. 1, 8 A prospective study reported that almost one-fifth of all patients experienced some ear pain or discomfort related to problems in middle ear pressure equalization, while visual otological examination confirmed barotraumatic lesions in 3.8% of patients. 12 Barotrauma can be avoided by careful patient selection, excluding patient with contraindications for HBOT such as emphysema, by patient education and by the termination of HBOT when early symptoms occur. Pulmonary barotrauma is a potential problem mainly during the decompression phase of HBOT since the volume of gas in the lungs increases due to the reduced pressure and this extra volume needs to be breathed out. However, the occurrence of this complication has only been reported in 1, 8 sporadic cases. 2.4.2 Oxygen toxicity Oxygen has to be considered as a drug and it can give rise to the formation of free radicals during high dose oxygen breathing. These free radicals can lead to the oxidation of chemical components of tissue. While in principle any tissue could be affected, it occurs most frequently in the lungs, brain and eyes. 1, 8 Reported forms of ocular toxicity are reversible myopia and cataract development. 1, 13 Cerebral toxicity leading to an acute epileptic seizure has been reported occasionally, although this condition appears to be self-limiting without apparent long-term sequels. 1, 12 Pulmonary toxicity has been described for more than a hundred years and infrequently appears to occur even following low doses of oxygen. 1 2.4.3 Other hazards Decompression illness itself is a risk inherent to HBOT for care personnel inside the pressurised chamber not breathing oxygen, but can be avoided by careful usage of compression and decompression schemes. The confinement to a relatively small and closed container can give rise to claustrophobia which in severe cases can make HBOT impossible. a Distraction schemes or occasionally light sedation can help overcome these problems. Fire, obviously, is a major hazard since oxygen supports combustion. Therefore, a hyperbaric air-filled chamber where only the patients breathe 100% oxygen through a mask or hood is generally preferred. a However, claustrophobia has even been described as an indication for HBOT in one case report. 14 It is unclear whether increased atmospheric pressure or the administration of oxygen has an important role in this indication.
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KCE reports 33 Effects and costs of
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