Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) has been utilized as a healing modality in human medicine for over twenty years. The application of HBOT in veterinary medicine offers an additional means for clients to better the care and increase the longevity of their pets.

How Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) Works

The three key requirements of HBOT include:

• A hyperbaric veterinary chamber
• 100 percent oxygen
• Increased atmospheric pressure, which varies, but rests typically between 1.5 and up to 3 times that of the normal atmospheric pressure

The following offers a basic understanding of the way HBOT works:

• Once the patient is placed inside the hyperbaric chamber, the oxygen delivery begins
• As the animal breathes normally, its body takes in the oxygen at the amplified levels of atmospheric pressure
• The amplified atmospheric pressure acts to increase the animal’s oxygenation levels in, for instance:
  • Blood plasma
  • Cerebrospinal and lymph fluids
  • Cells and Tissues
  • Glands
  • Organs
  • Brain
• Increasing the amounts of absorbed oxygen enables the animal’s body to better utilize oxygen for bodily repair.

Benefits
The application of oxygen provides a healing benefit through anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial means. In medical conditions involving an oxygen deficiency, utilizing HBOT often accelerates healing. 
HBOT has shown to benefit the patient in medical situations involving the following needs:

• Reduction in swelling
• Stimulating new blood vessel growth in areas with damaged tissue
• Skin grafts
• Increasing blood flow to compromised tissues
• Decreasing pressure caused by injuries
• Post-operative recovery aid
• Advancing wound healing
• Providing infection control
• Hastening the healing process
• Reducing or eliminating invasive surgical procedures

HBOT has been applied as a supportive method of treatment in veterinary conditions involving, for instance:

• Injuries caused through trauma:
  • Head
    • Brain damage
  • Spinal cord
    • Intervertebral disc herniation
  • Nerve damage
  • Internal organs
• Bone injuries and joint conditions
  • Fractures
  • Arthritis
• Swelling
  • Post-operative
  • Injuries where the animal has been crushed
  • Snake bites
  • Burns
• Lung injuries
  • Smoke inhalation
  • Carbon monoxide toxicity
• Systemic or local infections
  • Organ damage or disease
    • Pancreatitis
• Accidental injuries involving:
  • Near drowning
  • Near hanging
• Wounds with severe skin and tissue damage or with severe infection
  • Burns
  • Ulcers
  • Gangrene
  • Necrosis
• Wounds that won’t heal due to lack of blood supply

Treatments
The length of a treatment session is contingent upon many factors starting with, for example, the animal’s type of injury or medical condition. Sessions can last for a matter of minutes to several hours, with the number of sessions necessary to show improvement also dependent upon the individual animal and the condition they present with.

Availability
Hyperbaric veterinary chambers are most often established in veterinary hospitals. As the health benefits of their use continues to be recognized, their availability will continue to grow.

When combined with veterinary treatments, the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy optimizes the chance to increase the healing benefits of pets suffering from trauma injuries, illness, and various medical conditions.

For further information regarding the chance to provide alternative methods of pet care therapy, contact your Covetrus representative at 855.724.3461.

Sources:

http://www.aaha.org/blog/petsmatter/post/2014/04/01/465951/Hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-for-pets.aspx