Examples of Enhancing Treatment & Care with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT): Non-Healing Wound After Mandibulectomy And Radiation Therapy

Aug 1

An elderly female-spayed canine was evaluated for a non-healing wound, which occurred after radiation therapy and mandibulectomy performed in the course of treatment for a malignant oral tumor. Three separate attempts at graft/flap surgical procedures were performed without success in closing the defect created by the mandibulectomy procedure. Two weeks after the third graft/flap procedure the patient was referred for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.

No additional surgery was performed after HBOT commenced. On the first day one HBOT session at 2 ATA for one hour was given, followed by 26 sessions given in a BID fashion on 13 days over the next three weeks. The wound closed rapidly and completely, with excellent functional and cosmetic results.

HBOT is a “coded” and reimbursable treatment modality in the US and many other countries for human patients with certain wound types and osteonecrosis associated with radiation therapy.