Improvement of satisfaction in burn patients receiving adjuvant hyperbaric oxygen therapy

Abstract

Background: Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy is an adjuvant treatment in patients with burns. However, evidence regarding the effectiveness of the HBO therapy for the improvement of patient's satisfaction has seldom been discussed; thus, we share our experience in this topic. Aim and Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the improvement of burn patients' satisfaction after adjuvant HBO therapy. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective case–control study involving 35 burn patients admitted to our hospital without a history of chronic pain and burn treatments from 2012 to 2015. Group I consisted of 18 burn patients who received HBO therapy to manage burns. The HBO therapy was administered in the hyperbaric chamber and received 60 min of 100% oxygen at a therapeutic pressure at 50 feet for 20 sessions. Group II consisted of 17 burn patients without a history of HBO therapy. Age, gender, total body surface area (TBSA), scar progression, improvement of visual analogue scale score, satisfaction improvement, and infection rate were documented and analyzed. Results: The mean age of Group I (37.0 ± 9.2) was significantly lower than that of Group II (49.4 ± 17.4) (P = 0.015). The mean improvement pain score in Group I (4.7 ± 1.1) was significantly higher than that of Group II (3.6 ± 0.9) (P = 0.004). The mean satisfaction improvement of Group I (3.4 ± 0.5) was significantly higher than that of Group II (2.9 ± 0.6) (P = 0.009). No significant difference was observed between gender, TBSA, debridement times, skin graft times, skin graft surface, infection rate, length of hospital stay, and progression of scar score in both groups, but there was a positive correlation between HBO therapy and the progression of scar score, so does the infection rate. There is no significant interaction between the two factors (HBO and age) on the improvement of pain score and improvement of satisfaction. Conclusion: Evaluation of the results obtained in the study suggests that the HBO therapy has a significant improvement in the pain relieve and satisfaction improvement after control of age factor in patients with thermal burns.