Using our state-of-art hyperbaric chamber, Duke experts provide hyperbaric oxygen therapy to treat patients suffering from conditions such as:

• Air or gas embolism
• Carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke inhalation
• Compromised skin grafts and flaps
• Crush injury, compartment syndrome, and other acute blood inflow blockages
• Decompression sickness (“the bends”)
• Clostridial myonecrosis and myositis (gas gangrene)
• Necrotizing soft tissue infections
• Problem and slow-healing wounds due to vascular disease, diabetes, and radiation exposure
  
• Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis
• Radiation tissue damage, such as osteoradionecrosis
• Refractory bone infections (osteomyelitis)
  

What Is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?

Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy is when 100 percent oxygen is administered in an enclosed chamber in which the pressure is increased to above normal atmospheric pressure. This treatment causes an increase in the amount of oxygen carried in the blood.

In tissues without sufficient blood supply, HBO therapy can promote the development of new blood vessels and help wounds heal. It also can assist the body’s immune system in killing microorganisms such as bacteria.

For patients suffering from decompression sickness or gas embolism, the increased pressure reduces the size of air bubbles and helps to eliminate them.

In cases of carbon monoxide poisoning, HBO accelerates the elimination of carbon monoxide from the body and reduces its harmful effects on tissues.

Breathing 100 percent oxygen at atmospheric pressure -- or applying topical oxygen without enclosing the patient’s entire body in a pressurized chamber -- does not produce the same effects and is not recognized as true hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Visit Duke Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology’s Web site for answers to frequently asked questions about hyperbaric medicine.

Appointments

To schedule an appointment, consultation, or tour, call 919-681-1685.

Physicians

Physicians offering this service include:

• Carraway, Martha Sue
• Dear, Guy De L.
• Freiberger, John J.
• Moon, Richard
• Piantadosi, Claude A.
• Stolp, Bryant W.

Locations

This service is available at:

• Duke Hyperbaric Medicine Clinic
  Duke Clinic 1D, 200 Trent Drive, Durham, NC 27710
• Duke University Hospital
  2301 Erwin Road, Durham, NC 27710