HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY VERSUS LASER THERAPY ON THE ACCELERATION OF VENOUS LEG ULCER HEALING

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to determine the effectiveness of hyperbaric oxygen therapy(HBOT) or laser therapy in the acceleration of chronic venous ulcer healing. Thirty hospital inpatients with venous ulcers participated in this study for a treatment period of five weeks. They were divided randomly and equally into three groups (2 treatment groups and one control group). Patients in group (1) (HBOT group) received two 90 minutes treatments daily with 2 to3 L of humidified oxygen / minute at 22 mmHg. On the other hand, patients in group (2) (laser therapy group) received 1 J/cm² infrared laser (Ga As), three times weekly. Patients in group (3) (control group) received standard wound care only. Wound surface area (WSA) and wound volume (WV) were used to measure the outcomes before starting the study and after the 3^rd and 5^th weeks posttreatment. It was found that, at the 5^th week post-treatment there was a significant reduction in both WSA and WV in both the HBOT group and the laser therapy group when compared to the control group (P<0.0001), also there was a significant reduction in WSA and WV in the laser therapy group at the 5^th week post-treatment when compared to the HBOT group (P<0.001). The findings strongly suggest that the application of infrared laser therapy at a dose of 1J/cm², three times/week is more effective than the application of HBOT daily in the management of chronic venous ulcers.