A Comparative Analysis of HBOT and L-HBOT: An Innovative Possibility to Enhance HBOT?

Oxygen is a vital component to wound healing. When trauma occurs, causing a wound, it is difficult to get oxygen to the wound site because of the damage that is present. Hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy (HBOT) is used to combat hypoxia in wounds by having the patient breathe in high concentrations of oxygen at high pressures allowing for oxygen to dissolve into the bloodstream at a faster rate. HBOT has been used to treat numerous conditions like diabetic foot ulcers, Crohn’s disease, and chronic wounds, however, the lack of literature and the risk of complications have limited the use of HBOT. Medical professionals have proven the significance of oxygen on wound healing from stimulating most of the vital functions to initiating the production of certain genes, oxygen is the keystone for successful complete wound healing. On the other hand, the risk of oxygen toxicity is one of the main contraindications of HBOT. On the other hand, recent studies have shown that HBOT administered at a lower atmospheric pressure with a lower oxygen concentration can decrease this risk significantly. Low-pressure hyperbaric oxygen therapy (L-HBOT) may still be as effective as traditional high-pressure hyperbaric oxygen therapy (H-HBOT) without the unpredictable complications that medical professionals are unsure of. In all, this review aims to analyze studies to come to a consensus on the pros and cons of these two variations of HBOT.