Soft Tissue Radionecrosis

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is used to treat tissue damage caused by radiation therapy. During these treatments, you breathe pressurized oxygen while you lie inside a clear plastic tube. The extra oxygen helps your body make new blood vessels, improve blood flow, and heal wounds. Each treatment can take up to 2 hours. Side effects from the treatment are rare.

Hyperbaric [hahy-per-bar-ik] oxygen therapy is a treatment for many kinds of illnesses and injuries, including radionecrosis. During this treatment, you breathe pure oxygen in a special chamber where the air pressure is two or three times higher than normal. This lets your lungs take in more oxygen than they normally can. The extra oxygen helps your body repair damaged tissue and fight infection.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is usually considered safe and side effects are rare. However, there are some risks associated with the high air pressure used. These risks include:

Ruptured eardrum

Collapsed lung

Temporary nearsightedness (not being able to clearly see things that are far away). This usually goes away in a few days or weeks after your last treatment.

Another risk with hyperbaric oxygen treatment is seizure caused by too much oxygen in your body.

If you have had radiation therapy to treat cancer, you might develop radionecrosis [rey-dee-oh-nuh-kroh-sis]. This is an area where the radiation damaged normal tissue near the cancer. Radionecrosis can happen months or years after radiation therapy.

Radionecrosis can be hard to heal because radiation damages blood vessels and reduces blood flow to the area that was treated. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy helps heal radionecrosis by improving blood flow to the area.

If you need surgery on the part of your body that had radiation treatment, you might have hyperbaric oxygen therapy to help you get ready for surgery and heal afterwards.

You should not drink any alcohol within 8 hours of hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Because oxygen can cause a fire if there is a spark, you should never bring a lighter or any device with a battery in it into the hyperbaric oxygen treatment area.

Do not use skin care products with petroleum jelly before your treatment. Petroleum is also a fire hazard around oxygen.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy usually is given at a special outpatient clinic. You will lie on a table inside a long clear plastic tube. The tube will be sealed and filled with pressurized oxygen. You might feel popping or fullness in your ears, similar to the way you feel taking off in an airplane. If this happens, it can help to swallow or yawn.

The clinic staff will be able to see and hear you during your treatment and you can talk to them. You should try to relax and breathe normally. Your treatment might take up to 2 hours. Then the tube will be slowly depressurized. You might feel tired or lightheaded afterwards. This should go away soon.

You may need many treatment sessions with hyperbaric oxygen to help heal soft tissue radionecrosis.

You should keep all of your appointments for hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Each treatment builds on the one before to help you get better.

Quitting smoking can also help improve blood flow and repair damaged tissue.

Take all medicines prescribed for you by your doctor, such as antibiotics (medicines to fight infection).

After a hyperbaric oxygen treatment, you should:

• Get plenty of rest for the next 24 hours.
• Drink lots of fluids; avoid alcohol and caffeinated drinks such as coffee, tea, and colas.
• Avoid taking hot showers or tub baths for 24 hours.
• Do not participate in any strenuous activities for 48 hours.
• Do not fly in any private or commercial aircraft for at least 24 hours.