RESEARCH ARTICLE


Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Ischaemic Foot Ulcers in Type 2 Diabetes: A Clinical Trial



Sarah Perren1, Alfred Gatt1, *, Nikolaos Papanas2, Cynthia Formosa1
1 Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta, Msida, Malta
2 Diabetes Centre-Diabetic Foot Clinic, Second Department of Internal Medicine, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece


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Creative Commons License
© 2018 Perren et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta, Tal-Qroqq, Msida, MSD 2080, Malta; Tel: 00356 99497886; Fax: 00356 2340 2342; E-mail: alfred.gatt@um.edu.mt


Abstract

Background and Aims:

Several treatment modalities and protocols for ischaemic foot ulcers are available. However, little consensus exists on optimal treatment. The aim of this study was to compare Standard Wound Care (SWC) alone vs. SWC with adjunct hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) in the treatment of ischaemic Diabetic Foot Ulcers (DFUs).

Patients and Methods:

Twenty-six patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) presenting with a newly diagnosed ischaemic foot ulcer were included. These were divided into group A (SWC with adjunct HBOT) and group B (SWC only). Participants were followed every week for 4 weeks and their ulcers were measured for their surface area and depth to assess any change in wound size.

Results:

Both treatment arms succeeded in reducing ulcer area and depth (p<0.001). However, ulcer area (p<0.001) and depth (p<0.001) exhibited superior improvement in group A.

Conclusion :

Adjunctive HBOT appears to improve wound healing in ischaemic DFUs and merits further study.

Keywords: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, Diabetic foot ulcer, Ischaemia, Peripheral arterial disease, Standard wound care, HBOT.