Effect of continuous diffusion of oxygen on pain in treatment of chronic wounds
Abstract
This was a pilot prospective study of the experience with continuous diffusion of oxygen (CDO) therapy to monitor pain reduction and wound healing outcomes in an outpatient setting for the treatment of chronic ulcers. CDO was found to not only be an effective therapy to heal wounds, yet also yielded pain relief. Most (91%) patients reported noticeable pain relief by the first visit, with the majority becoming pain-free within the first week. All patients experienced pain relief regardless of wound closure rates. CDO therapy worked on a wide variety of wounds, including those with mixed aetiology, recurrent wounds, recalcitrant wounds, stalled wounds where local perfusion is suspect, surgical incisions and toe amputations. In general, the majority of wounds healed in 4–5 weeks. From this study, CDO appears to work at reducing wound pain. Given the issues with oversubscription of pain medicines and the associated dependencies that arise from the use of strong, addictive pain killers such as opioids, CDO therapy should be considered as an option for providing effective pain relief and positive outcomes for wound healing.
Chronic wounds, typically defined as wounds that have not decreased in size by 50% after 4–6 weeks of treatment,1,2,3,4 are often complicated by comorbidities including peripheral neuropathy, diabetes and peripheral vascular disease (PVD). The underlying causes of chronic wounds often include venous insufficiency, poor arterial perfusion, diabetes, and unrelieved pressure as well as contributing systemic factors such as immunosuppression, nutrition and infection. Due to a population of increasing age and weight, and the prevalence of diabetes and venous insufficiency, lower extremity ulcers that are vascular and/or diabetic in nature are the most frequently encountered chronic wounds.1,2 The prolonged healing process of chronic ulcers results in both economic loss and an impaired quality of life (QoL) for patients that suffer from such wounds. Not only does the management of chronic wounds drain health-care resources, failure to effectively manage these wounds could lead to even more devastating situations such as sepsis and amputation.3,4
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