The clinical use of hyperbaric oxygen in the treatment of Danish patients with diabetic foot ulcers.

by | Feb 7, 2019 | Chronic Wounds, Diabetes, Diabetic Foot Ulcers

Patients with diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) suffer from diabetes-related complications and comor-bidities. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is a treatment modality with limited capacity used in the treatment of DFUs. It is important to ensure that HBOT is offered to patients who are suitable for this treatment regarding effect, compliance and life expectancy. The objective of the present study was to describe the population of patients with DFU who were referred to HBOT in Denmark in the 1999-2016 period. All patients with DFU who were treated at the HBOT chamber in Copenhagen during the study period were considered. Patients with an invalid social security number or an incorrect diagnosis were excluded. Data on comor-bidities, amputation and death were extracted from the Danish National patient Registry and the Danish Civil Registration System.

Malnutrition screening in outpatients receiving hyperbaric oxygen therapy: an opportunity for improvement?

by | Oct 1, 2018 | Chronic Wounds, Diabetes

Outpatients who receive hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT) may represent a group at significant risk of malnutrition owing to the underlying conditions that are often treated with HBOT (e.g., non-healing diabetic wounds and radiation-induced skin injury). In this issue, See and colleagues provide new, preliminary evidence of the prevalence of malnutrition in a small group of HBOT outpatients treated in an Australian hospital, reporting that approximately one-third of patients receiving HBOT were at risk of malnutrition. To our knowledge, routine malnutrition screening is not available in HBOT centres providing outpatient treatment, which may be a key gap in the nutrition care of these patients. Malnutrition screening was developed to identify those at risk of malnutrition across the healthcare continuum.