Trinity Wound Healing Center Trinity Regional Medical Center Campus 515.574.6068

Advanced Treatment for Wounds

One of the advanced treatments offered at Trinity Regional Medical Center is hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy. Introduced in the mid-'60s, HBO chambers have evolved to treat patients suffering from diabetic ulcers, pressure ulcers, infections, compromised skin grafts and flaps, and wounds that haven't healed within 30 days.

Hyperbaric Oxygen chambers resemble a reclining bed encased in a clear acrylic shell nearly a yard in diameter and weigh more than one ton each. Patients can listen to music or watch movies on televisions and DVD players mounted above the chamber while remaining in constant contact with those outside the chamber through an intercom and private handset. The only physical sensation resulting from the treatment is a slight pressure on the eardrum, such as that felt when a plane lands, as the air in the chamber is compressed.

Breathing 100% oxygen at increased atmospheric pressure is a painless, proven way to help the body heal. Hyperbaric oxygen chambers work by surrounding the patient with100% oxygen at higher than normal atmospheric pressure in sessions, or dives, that last 90 minutes to two hours. This increases the amount of oxygen in the patient's blood allowing red blood cells to pass more easily through the plasma into the wounds to heal them from the inside out.