Advanced Treatment for Wound Care Available at Roseland Community Hospital

04 Dec 2008

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Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) is a medical treatment in which the entire body is under increased atmospheric pressure and the patient breaths 100% oxygen.  This treatment is administered in a pressurized chamber.  It is proven effective for a number of different medical and surgical conditions either as a primary treatment or in addition to other medical treatments such as antibiotics or surgery.

At the Hyperbaric Unit in Roseland Community Hospital, we use a single person (monoplace) chamber. The chamber is approximately eight feet long and about 34 inches wide.  Some facilities use a multi-place chamber and treat more than one person at a time.

Normally our atmosphere is exerting. 14.7 pounds per square inch of pressure at sea level.  This is equivalent to one atmosphere absolute (1 ATA).  In this atmosphere, we breathe approximately 20% oxygen and 80% nitrogen.  During HBO, the pressure is increased two or three times more than normal and you breathe 100% oxygen.  Most patients are treated at two times the normal atmospheric pressure (2 ATA).

The combinations of high concentrations of oxygen (100%) and increased pressure cause large amounts of oxygen to be dissolved in your blood and other tissue fluids. There can be as much as 10 to 15 times the usual amount of oxygen dissolved in your blood, which gets much more oxygen to the rest of your body.

 Many different problems have been shown to benefit from HBO.  Some of the most common problems are non-healing wounds (especially in diabetics), osteomyelitis (bone infections), radiation injury to bone or soft tissue burns, decompression illness (bends) and carbon monoxide poisoning.

The Board of Directors and staff at are excited about offering this cutting edge healing technology to patients at Roseland Community Hospital.

The Wound Care Center is located in the Outpatient Specialty Center (across the street from the main hospital) at 134 West 111^th St. 2^nd Floor.  For more information or to schedule an appointment call 773 995-3062.