Examples of Enhancing Treatment & Care with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT): Oral Lesions Compatible with Burns from an Electrical Cord Bite

The owners of a 2-year-old male neutered Maltese found him curled up, non-responsive, and unable to move.  He was presented to the emergency service by referral.  The physical exam revealed tongue and oral lesions compatible with burns (image above left).  The owners returned home and found an electrical cord (plugged into an outlet) with multiple chew marks in the area of the home where the dog was found recumbent. 

The patient was unable to walk, poorly responsive, with pinpoint pupils, and torticollis to the left (image above right).  There were no doll’s eye responses.  There was no menace response O.U.  Spinal reflexes were intact.  There was movement in all four limbs.  Initial blood tests were unremarkable, and thoracic radiographs were normal.

IV fluids were begun, and one-hour HBOT sessions at 1.5 ATA were initiated.  After the first session on the evening of admission, the patient was able to ambulate. However, he appeared blind in an obstacle course (image below left).  Three HBOT sessions were given on the second day of hospitalization (with at least 4 hours between each session).  The patient was able to navigate an obstacle course by the end of the second day, and began to eat and drink normally.  (image below middle).

The clients returned the patient for outpatient BID HBOT sessions on each of the next two days following discharge.  Neurologic improvement was noted on examination each day, and the dog was referred back to the primary care veterinarian for follow up.

Electrocution can cause serious lesions in multiple organ systems, including burns, pulmonary edema, and CNS edema and hemorrhage. (Reference, Spies, C., et al, “Narrative Review: Electrocution and Life Threatening Electrical Injuries”, Annals of Internal Medicine, 11/2006;145(7):531-7). Adjunctive HBOT can be employed in the treatment of all three of these sequelae to electrical injury. (Reference, Jain, K.K., Ed., Textbook of Hyperbaric Medicine, 5th and revised Edition, 2009 Hogrefe). 

In this case, no clinical pulmonary lesions developed, the burns were minor, and the neurologic signs responded rapidly to therapy.  Neurologic function improved rapidly, and the patient was discharged after 6 HBOT sessions over the 60 hours of hospitalization (image above right).

© RKLyman, LLC. All Rights Reserved.