Oxygen Found to Help Wounds Heal Better and Faster

A new study has shown that brief exposure to pure oxygen can help chronic and other hard-to-heal wounds to heal completely and also help wounds heal faster. The findings were reported in the January 2003 issue of Pathophysiology.

Surgical scientists used topical oxygen therapy to treat 30 patients with a total of 56 wounds. The therapy required placing a bag containing pure oxygen over the wound for 90 minutes each day. Wounds in the study included post-surgical and trauma wounds and diabetic ulcers and bedsores.

Treatment duration ranged from 24 days to eight months. The participants were monitored for up to nine months. Many of the patients had diabetes, which hindered healing. The results showed that more than two-thirds (38 of 56) of the wounds healed with the oxygen treatment alone. Four wounds required surgery for complete closure. Altogether, three-fourths of the wounds healed with the use of the topical oxygen.

"The quality of closure is very impressive,” said Chandan Sen, M.D., lead author and director of the wound healing research program in the department of surgery at Ohio State University (Columbus, USA). "There was much less scarring than we had anticipated.”




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