High Incidence of Fractures in Winter, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Accelerates Fracture Healing

High-pressure oxygen-assisted treatment of fractures has been included in foreign textbooks. For orthopedic diseases such as poor healing of fractures and fractures, replantation of severed limbs (fingers, toes), crush injuries and crush syndromes, osteomyelitis, spinal cord injuries, radiation or aseptic bone necrosis, cervical spondylosis, nerve damage, and sports injuries, high-pressure oxygen therapy has shown varying degrees of effectiveness. High-pressure oxygen therapy can promote the regeneration of damaged capillaries and the formation of collateral circulation, improve tissue blood supply, accelerate the proliferation of fibroblasts and the growth of granulation tissue. It can also promote the formation of callus and the healing of fractures by suppressing inflammatory reactions. For fractures or suspected nerve damage, early high-pressure oxygen therapy can improve fracture healing ability, accelerate nerve function repair, and achieve faster recovery and better rehabilitation goals.

Winter is the peak season for fractures. The cold weather and heavy clothing make people less agile in their movements, especially when encountering rainy or snowy weather, the slippery ground makes it easy to fall and cause fractures. Older people, due to their poor agility and weak reaction when falling, combined with decreased hormone levels due to aging, leading to increased activity of osteoclasts, decreased activity of osteoblasts, and osteoporosis, are more prone to fractures after falling.

What happens after a fracture

After a fracture, the capillaries in the medullary cavity, subperiosteal area, and surrounding soft tissues rupture and bleed, forming a hematoma. Combined with local small vessel occlusion, poor blood supply and decreased oxygen tension occur locally, resulting in inadequate nourishment of the fractured area. This oxygen deficiency can persist for a long time, severely affecting the growth of repair tissue at the fracture ends and slowing down the speed of healing. In addition, the low oxygen state of the fracture ends during the healing process causes faster proliferation of cartilaginous matrix than osteoblasts, resulting in an increase in cartilaginous callus and obstructed bone formation, leading to difficulties in fracture healing.

Why undergo high-pressure oxygen therapy?

High-pressure oxygen can accelerate the regeneration of damaged local capillaries, promote the formation of collateral circulation, improve blood supply and supply of nutrients, and promote the growth of callus and healing of fractures.
High-pressure oxygen can contract blood vessels, reduce capillary leakage, and alleviate local bleeding and swelling of the fractured area, improving local symptoms.
Accelerate the proliferation and division of osteoblasts and osteoclasts, and accelerate the formation of subperiosteal bone-like tissue and soft tissue.
High-pressure oxygen can inhibit inflammatory reactions, promote the transformation of cartilaginous tissue into bone tissue, increase bone density, and improve the rate of fracture healing.
High-pressure oxygen can enhance local anti-infection ability, especially against anaerobic bacterial infections.

What is high-pressure oxygen therapy?

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a method of treating diseases by inhaling high-concentration oxygen in an environment higher than 1 atmosphere. It is a non-invasive and purely physical therapy that can quickly increase the oxygen content, oxygen partial pressure, and oxygen diffusion distance in the body in a short time, which promotes aerobic metabolism of cells and rapidly improves symptoms of tissue and organ hypoxia. It is irreplaceable by drugs and any other means.