Hyperbaric oxygen reverses organ dysfunction in severe anemia.

Abstract

HIGH oxygen content within the plasma that can supplement, or even supplant, the hemoglobin-bound oxygen can be achieved by use of hyperbaric oxygen administration. In 1960, Boerema et al. 1 exsanguinated pigs and then reanimated them by treatment in a hyperbaric chamber, Forty years later, hyperbaric therapy can be life saving when used as temporizing or definitive therapy in cases of severe anemia when transfusion is difficult to achieve or refused.