title: Hyperbaric oxygen in diabetic gangrene treatment.
abstract: We treated a group of 18 hospitalized adult diabetic patients (all with retinopathy, 17 with symptomatic neuropathy, and 6 with macroangiopathy) presenting with gangrenous lesions of the foot by a combined regime consisting of strict metabolic control, daily debridement of necrotic tissues, and daily hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatments given in a multiplace oxygen chamber. Another group of 10 adult subjects with comparable foot lesions (all with retinopathy, 9 with symptomatic neuropathy, and 4 with macroangiopathy) was treated in exactly the same way except for HBO. In the test treatment group, 16 patients were healed, and the remaining 2 showed no improvement and later underwent amputation. The number of HBO treatments required for healing was significantly related to the size of gangrenous lesions. In the non-HBO-treated group, only 1 patient improved, 5 of 10 showed no change, and 4 of 10 worsened until leg amputation was unavoidable. Comparison of the two groups by chi 2-test revealed a highly significant difference (P = .001). In practical terms, HBO treatment drastically reduced leg amputations in patients so treated in the last 3 yr compared with earlier and current figures for patients not receiving HBO treatment.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D048909:Diabetes Complications; D003925:Diabetic Angiopathies / Q000150:complications; D003929:Diabetic Neuropathies / Q000150:complications; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D005534:Foot Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D005734:Gangrene / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D006931:Hyperbaric Oxygenation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012883:Skin Ulcer / Q000628:therapy