Hyperbaric Medicine is the branch of science that studies the physiological and physiopathological changes of living beings on occasions higher than atmospheric (DIVING, WORKERS UNDER PRESSURE, HYPERBARIC CHAMBER).
Hyperbaric oxygenation has its foundations in diving medicine. In fact, its beginnings go back to the 1930s when it began to use oxygen breathing in decompressions of divers to shorten them.
Although hyperbaric medicine has been maintained since the seventeenth century, it was only in 1960 in Amsterdam that the first Congress of hyperbaric oxygen therapy applied to pathologies other than scuba diving was carried out, where it is mainly applied to infections caused by “anaerobic” germs; After that, it began to be applied in other pathologies and different scientific societies were formed in the world such as the States of America, European, Russian, Japanese, and in 1986 the Argentine Society of Hyperbaric Medicine and Underwater Activities was formed, of which we are founding partners.
PHYSICAL BASIS OF HYPERBARIC MEDICINE
The main rationale is the use of pure oxygen at pressures above 1.6 ATA.
We can define hyperbaric oxygen therapy, as a therapeutic method in which pure air is breathed at pressures above atmospheric pressure. This oxygen ends with the hemoglobin of the arterial and venous blood and dissolves in the plasma, following the mechanics of Henry’s law with therapeutic effects.
It is the use of oxygen as a drug.
The patient is comfortably seated or possibly lying inside the chamber where an oronasal mask is used or a helmet type cephalic device breathes pure oxygen.
The increase in pressure is only felt in the ears. Through simple instructions, the patient learns to compensate the pressures without difficulty. They are always accompanied during the entire treatment inside the chamber by personnel properly trained for this purpose.
If you have questions or require more information, visit the specialists of hyperbaric chamber in Mérida.
