The Influence of Varying Pressure and Duration of Treatment with Hyperbaric Oxygen on the Survival of Skin Flaps

Abstract

The effect of varying modes of hyperbaric oxygen treatment was studied on experimental skin flaps in rats. Immediate postoperative treatment increased the surviving flap area by up to twice that in non-treated control rats. Better results were gained with an oxygen pressure of 2 ata rather than 3 ata, apparently because the individual oxygen exposure periods could be made longer without toxic effects of oxygen. Periods of intermittent hyperbaric oxygen treatment longer than 24 hours, however, did not increase the surviving area. If the start of hyperbaric oxygen treatment was delayed until 24 hours after surgery, its effect was considerably less.