Slark Hyperbaric Unit
Waitematā District Health Board
PO Box 32051
Devonport
Auckland 0744
New Zealand
www.healthpoint.co.nz
Slark Hyperbaric Unit | Waitematā | Te Whatu Ora
Postal Address
Contact Details
Emergency Referrals:
Diving Emergency Service (DES) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week:
Ph 0800 4 DES 111 (0800 4 337 111) or if outside New Zealand: Ph 64 9 3746758
Elective (non-emergency) Referrals:
Inpatients: SMO please complete e-referral in Clinical Portal. If you wish to discuss appropriateness of referral, please contact Clinical Director, Dr Chris Sames on 021 1255687.
Other patients: Medical staff please click on the following link to open the referral form and complete all details and email it to Dr Chris Sames at chris.sames@waitematadhb.govt.nz
Tours and Technical Information:
Phone: (09) 4872213
Or contact online here
Dive Medicals:
Occupational & Recreational: Dr Chris Sames
Contact online here
Diver Alert Network:
Oxygen Provider Training: Basil Murphy
Contact online here
Enhancement of Healing in Selected Problem Wounds
Problem wounds are those which fail to respond to established medical and surgical management. Such wounds usually develop in compromised hosts with multiple local and systemic factors contributing to inhibition of tissue repair. These include diabetic feet, compromised amputation sites, non healing traumatic wounds, and vascular insufficiency ulcers (ulcers with poor circulation).
All share the common problem of tissue hypoxia (low tissue oxygen level, usually related to impaired circulation). Diabetic foot wounds are one of the major complications of diabetes and an excellent example of the type of complicated wound which can be treated with hyperbaric oxygen. Fifty percent of all lower extremity amputations in the United States are due to diabetes, at a cost of more than one billion dollars per year. It is well known that many diabetics suffer circulatory disorders that create inadequate levels of oxygen to support wound healing.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a treatment in which patients receive high concentrations of oxygen under pressure in order to increase the oxygen level in the blood and tissues. The elevation in tissue oxygen which occurs in the hyperbaric chamber induces significant changes in the wound repair process that promote healing. When hyperbaric treatment is used in conjunction with standard wound care, improved results have been demonstrated in the healing of difficult or limb threatening wounds as compared to routine wound care alone.
References
1. Cianci P. Adjunctive hyperbaric oxygen in the treatment of problem wounds: An economic analysis. In: Kindwall E, ed. Proceedings of the Eighth International Congress on Hyperbaric Medicine. San Pedro, CA: Best Publishing. 1984:213-216.
2. Cianci P, Petrone G, Drager S, Lueders H, Lee H, Shapiro R. Salvage of the problem wound and potential amputation with wound care and adjunctive hyperbaric oxygen therapy: An economic analysis. J Hyperbaric Med 1988;3:127-141.
3. Hunt TK. The physiology of wound healing. Ann Emerg Med 1988;17:1265-1273.
4. Stone JA, Cianci P. The adjunctive role of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the treatment of lower extremity wounds in patients with diabetes. Diabetes Spectrum 1997;10:118-123.
https://www.healthpoint.co.nz/public/respiratory/slark-hyperbaric-unit-waitemata-te-whatu/