Practical Diabetology
(December 1996)

Q. Is the use of hyperbaric chambers an acceptable treatment for the circulatory problems associated with diabetes?

A. No. The goal of hyperbaric treatment is to increase the amount of oxygen in the body's tissues by delivering oxygen to them at a pressure much higher than normal. The assumption is that the extra oxygen will compensate for the lack of oxygen in the ussues. That's fine--it may even work. The problem is that the treatment doesn't target the cause of the tissue damage, that is, the poor circulation that isn't bringing sufficient amounts of oxygen to the tissues.

There are two tyres of hyperbaric treatment. The localized version consists of placing only the limb affected with poor circulation in a plastic chamber receiving oxygen under pressure. The other is a full-length chamber that encloses the whole body. The benefits of the local chamber are questionable, but the total body chamber does have some value in healing some damaged tissues, particularly in cases of carbon monoxide poisoning and certain kinds of gangrene. Unfortunately, there is absoIutely no evidence that either chamber helps the vascular problems at the root of poor circulation, either during therapy or after. While affected tissues may undergo some healing, the underlying vascular disease remains unchanged, and blood flow is not improved. Which means, of course, that any tissue healing will be supplanted by more issue damage in a relatively short period of time.

Eric A. Orzeck, M.D.,
Clinical Associate Professor
Baylor College of Medicine,
Houston, Texas

This article appeared in the December 1996 Issue of Practical Diabetology, p. 39.