Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBO) is a medical treatment where a patient breathes 100 percent oxygen while under increased pressure. At UT Hospital, patients breathe oxygen inside a monoplace chamber. This chamber is a clear long tube. The patient lies on a stretcher in the tube but can see out to watch television during the hour and a half treatment session. Pressure inside the chamber is increased to as much as three times the normal atmospheric pressure. The combination of increased oxygen and increased pressure floods the patient's entire body with oxygen thereby assisting the body in its natural recuperative processes.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Services

HBO services are offered to both inpatients and outpatients following a physician referral. A hyperbaric trained doctor evaluates each patient prior to the first treatment. The Undersea Hyperbaric and Medicine Society has identified those conditions which have demonstrated improvement with HBO treatment. Those conditions include:

• Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
• Acute Smoke Inhalation
• Problematic wounds such as traumatic wounds, diabetic wounds, decubitus ulcers, and necrotizing fasciitis
• Decompression Sickness
• Osteomyelitis
• Radiation Necrosis

J. Michael McCoy, DDS,
Medical Director of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Professor, Dept. of Radiology
Professor, Dept. of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Professor, Dept. of Pathology

Lu Disney, PTA
Roane State Community College 2001