title: Ischemic scleroderma wounds successfully treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
abstract: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been used to treat refractory wounds for the last several decades, with the majority of research focusing on wounds secondary to arterial insufficiency. We describe 2 patients with scleroderma with intractable bilateral extremity ulcers. Local ischemia was identified using transcutaneous oximetry. Each patient then underwent 30 treatments of HBOT at a relative depth of 2.4 ATA with resulting wound healing. This is the first reported successful use of HBOT to treat scleroderma ulcers, and may represent an unrecognized treatment option for these notoriously difficult chronic wounds.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Y Michael
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Markus
authors.forename: Mary J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.forename: A Wayne
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Evans
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001785:Blood Gas Monitoring, Transcutaneous; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006931:Hyperbaric Oxygenation; D007511:Ischemia / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D045743:Scleroderma, Diffuse / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D045745:Scleroderma, Limited / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D012883:Skin Ulcer / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014945:Wound Healing