Evaluation of efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen therapy as an adjunctive therapy in the management of thermal burns

Background: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is an adjunctive therapy that has been proposed to improve outcome in thermal burns. It involves the therapeutic administration of 100% oxygen at environmental pressures >1 atmosphere absolute (ATA). Methodology: An open, prospective, observational study was conducted for a period of 18 months which included fifty patients who were allocated to either adjunctive hyperbaric therapy in addition to the existing protocol of burn management (Group A) or only existing protocol of burn management (Group B) with daily dressing and debridement. All patients between the age of 18 and 60 years with 15%-60% of second and third degrees of thermal burns were included. HBOT was administered at 2.0 ATA in a "monoplace" chamber for 90 min, 6 days a week. A total of ten sessions were administered to each patient along with conventional treatment. Results: The mean time of wound healing in Group A was 18.96 days, whereas in Group B, it was 43.64 days. The mean number of days of hospital stay in Group A was 32.04 days, whereas in Group B, those were 51.2 days. Similarly, the mean pain score and mean fluid requirement were less in Group A when compared to those of Group B. Conclusion: With our study, we can conclude that HBOT is an effective adjunctive modality of treatment in the management of thermal burns.