How To Diagnose And Treat Compartment Syndrome

Hyperbaric Oxygen

An individual affected by compartment syndrome may need hyperbaric oxygen therapy as part of their treatment. Hyperbaric oxygen is a type of treatment method where a room or tube is filled with pure oxygen for the patient to breathe. The pure oxygen is also pressurized to over three times greater than the pressure of normal air. In these settings, the patient's lungs are able to collect a greater amount of oxygen then they do when pure oxygen is inhaled at normal air pressure. This increase in oxygen collection by the lungs allows for a rise in the amount of oxygen the patient's blood can transport. Compartment syndrome causes the blood vessels in the organs and muscles of the affected area to become compressed. This compression can restrict the amount of blood that can flow to these tissues, lowering the amount of oxygen that can be delivered. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy allows for a higher concentration of oxygen in the blood so the small amount of blood that does flow to the tissues in the affected compartment has the most oxygen in it that it can carry. This type of therapy can be used when the individual's tissue inside of the affected compartment has become damaged due to oxygen deprivation.

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