MEDICARE AND MOST INSURANCE PLANS RECOGNIZE HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY AS TREATMENT FOR THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS:

• Diabetic foot ulcer that has not responded to conventional wound treatment
• Tissue damage from radiation therapy
• Bone damage from radiation therapy
• Compromised skin grafts and flaps
• Osteomyelitis that has not responded to antibiotics
• Necrotizing infections (flesh eating bacterial infection)
• Crush injury to limbs or digits
• Severed limbs or digits
• Acute trauma to limbs or digits resulting in loss of oxygen to the area
• Acute problems with arterial circulation in the limbs
• Actinomycosis that has not responded to antibiotics
• Gas gangrene
• Cyanide poisoning
• Gas embolism (air bubble in the blood)
• Acute carbon monoxide poisoning
• Decompression illness (Bends)

PREPARING FOR TREATMENT

Prior to your first treatment, a member of the hyperbaric team will discuss the exact preparations necessary to maximize the effectiveness of your therapy.  You will be asked about any medications you are taking and any recent illnesses.  You will be provided with comfortable cotton garments to wear during your treatment and you will be instructed on what items can and can not enter the chamber with you.

WHAT WILL I FEEL WHILE INSIDE THE CHAMBER?

Treatments take place in a comfortable, climate-controlled chamber with a clear Plexiglas top.  As the chamber pressurizes, you will experience fullness in the ears, similar to the feeling noted when an airplane is taking off.  Before the treatment, you will be taught how to clear your ears to relieve this fullness.  When the treatment pressure prescribed by the physician is reached, the feeling of fullness in the ears decreases and you will feel normal again.  During the treatment you can read, nap, or watch TV or a movie.  As the treatment concludes, the pressure decreases, similar to the feeling of a plane landing.

HOW LONG DO TREATMENTS LAST?

Hyperbaric treatments typically last two hours, five days a week for four to six weeks.  Your physician will determine the number of treatments that will be most beneficial to you. 

POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS

Although rare, side effects may include temporary vision changes, ear pain from pressure, and oxygen toxicity.  Your physician and hyperbaric technician will explain these prior to treatment.  

PROGRAM INFORMATION

For questions regarding hyperbaric oxygen therapy, talk with your physician for a referral to one of our hyperbaric physicians or call the Hyperbaric Center at St. Mary’s Medical Center at (561) 882-2852.

 HYPERBARIC MEDICINE CENTER PARTICIPATING PHYSICIANS 

• Craig S. Altus, MD (Pulmonary Medicine)
• Elijah J. Bell, MD (Anesthesiology)
• Michael D. Chidester, MD (Internal Medicine)
• Chadi N. Dahabra, MD (Anesthesiology)
• Ann Marie James, DO (Anesthesiology)
• Donald J. Kemmer, DO (Anesthesiology)
• Kerry Scott Lane, MD (Anesthesiology)
• Brian Miller, MD (Anesthesiology)
• Alberto J. Navarro, MD (Plastic Surgery)
• Asha Padmanabhan, MD (Anesthesiology)
• Raymond A. Polizzi, MD (General Surgery)
• Richard Rubio, MD (Anesthesiology)
• John J.Sitarik, MD (Anesthesiology)