BENGALURU: A hyperbaric (high pressure) oxygen therapy unit, where a person can get 100 per cent oxygen in a chamber, has been set up at the government-run
Victoria Hospital
in Bengaluru. The air pressure inside such a chamber is about two-and-a-half times higher than the normal pressure in the atmosphere and helps in the healing process.
The unit, built at a cost of Rs 3.5 crore, has apparatus imported from the US. The new mode of therapy will help patients suffering from various health issues, including vascular problems like heart attack to infections in the brain,
Covid
, stroke, burns and diabetic foot. Depending on the condition, 60 to 90 minutes’ therapy will be given to patients, doctors said.
Patients will be made to breathe 100% oxygen, which will aid in healing of complex wounds and infected tissues. The therapy has proven to reduce inflammation, improve blood circulation and enhance the internal healing process as it provides the required nutrition to oxygen-deprived tissues.
“The treatment will be free of cost for BPL patients. For others, we are yet to decide on the cost. Though the facility is already there in private hospitals,
Victoria
is the first government hospital in Karnataka to have the
HBO
unit,” said Dr Ramesh Krishna K, medical superintendent, Victoria Hospital.
Senior doctors involved in setting up the unit said the therapy can be given to five patients at a time. “It helps in healing wounds faster. Its benefits include angiogenesis or the formation of new blood vessels. It also increases the oxygen-carrying capacity of red blood cells,” said a doctor, explaining that the process will bring much relief to patients suffering from burns, sports injuries, stroke and heart attack.
Victoria Hospital, attached to Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, was chosen for the project as it’s a multispecialty teaching hospital and witnesses various kinds of cases daily.
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