Hyperbaric oxygen therapy becomes mainstream medicine

Oct. 5th 2007

By Kyle Alspach, Enterprise staff writer BROCKTON—

Once viewed with skepticism, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is becoming a mainstream medical practice and getting plenty of interest in southeastern Massachusetts. Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton plans to open a hyperbaric center next summer in Stoughton, and two facilities are already operating in the region. Oxygen has long been accepted as a treatment for smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning. But hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which involves breathing pure oxygen in a high-pressure environment, is increasingly being used to heal chronic wounds, reverse damage from radiation therapy and even treat conditions like autism and cerebral palsy. “It’s just now becoming more accepted and widely prescribed. That’s why more facilities are getting chambers,” said Dr. Grace Doherty, medical director at the Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment Center in Randolph. That center opened in 2001 and was one of the first in Massachusetts. Morton Hospital and Medical Center in Taunton began offering hyperbaric treatment last fall, and Good Samaritan’s center is slated to open in June. During the hyperbaric treatment, patients breathe 100 percent oxygen — five times the normal amount — for several hours inside a chamber with a pressure greater than sea level. The pressure forces the oxygen into the bloodstream, killing bacteria and stimulating the growth of new blood vessels. The effect is a much speedier healing process, said Dr. Joseph Tito, medical director of the Center for Wound Healing at Morton Hospital, which has three hyperbaric chambers. Many of those treated with hyperbaric chambers in Taunton suffer from chronic wounds related to diabetes, which are normally difficult to heal and can end up requiring amputation. Hyperbarics are also helping counteract the effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatments, Tito said. The patient remains conscious during the treatment and often watches a movie or reads a book. The experience is painless, but patients sometimes feel discomfort in their ears due to the pressure. Patients often need between 10 and 40 treatments to show major improvement. But, Tito says, “it clearly does work.” And it’s working for a surprising range of other conditions, according to some practitioners. At the Randolph center, neurological disorders such as autism and cerebral palsy are both being treated successfully with hyperbaric chambers, said Doherty, the director. In the case of autism — a rapidly growing behavioral disorder — effective treatments have been hard to find. Yet after receiving hyperbaric therapy, many autistic children are calmer, more talkative and show improved cognitive skills, according to Doherty. “Nobody really knows why it works with autism,” she said. “But it’s becoming more and more accepted by autism doctors.” There are no scientific studies to support the use of hyperbaric chambers for autism, cerebral palsy and many other conditions, critics point out. And the Food and Drug Administration, citing information from the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, only recognizes hyperbaric chambers as effective for treating injuries, wounds and infections. But even these treatments are fairly cutting edge. The Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston opened the state’s first hyperbaric oxygen center in 1995. Millie Doten, a hyperbaric nurse at the hospital, said only about five or six hospitals in the state have opened hyperbaric centers since then. Caritas Good Samaritan would be the latest. The hospital plans to offer three hyperbaric chambers and a staff of four to five doctors at its new Wound Care Center, to be located at the former Goddard Memorial Hospital on Sumner Street in Stoughton. “We’ve seen there’s a need for this kind of wound care in the immediate area,” said Kevin Griffin, director of respiratory care at Good Samaritan. Griffin said Medicare and some private insurance companies cover hyperbaric oxygen therapy for certain, but not all, conditions. Yet all indications are that the treatment is only going to become more common in the future, experts say. “It’s growing in leaps and bounds,” Griffin said.

• Hyperbaric oxygen therapy treats chronic wounds, radiation-chemotherapy damage, autism, cerebral palsy and other conditions.
• Morton Hospital in Taunton and the Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment Center in Randolph have hyperbaric oxygen chambers.

Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton plans to open a hyperbaric center next summer in Stoughton.