Clinical Outcomes of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Systematic Review
A systematic review published in Cureus evaluated the effectiveness of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) in treating diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). The review analyzed six studies encompassing a total of 391 patients to assess HBOT’s impact on healing rates, ulcer dimensions, and amputation outcomes.
The majority of the studies indicated that HBOT led to lower rates of major amputations, improved ulcer healing, and reduced ulcer dimensions compared to standard care. However, one study found no significant differences in amputation rates or long-term wound healing between groups. The review also noted variations in methodological rigor across the included studies, with selection bias from inconsistent patient allocation being a common limitation in observational studies, potentially distorting comparisons.
These findings suggest that HBOT may be a beneficial adjunctive treatment for DFUs, but further high-quality, randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm its efficacy and address existing methodological concerns.
Read the full article on the Cureus website.
Keywords:
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy,
Diabetic foot ulcers,
Amputation prevention,
Wound healing,
Systematic review,
Ujwala Damineni,
Shravani Divity,
Sri Ram Charan Gundapaneni,
Tejaswi Vadde