Madurai hospital launches hyperbaric oxygen therapy for diabetic wounds, burns
Grace Kennett Foundation Hospital (GKFH) in Madurai has established a Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) unit to provide advanced treatment for diabetic wounds, burns, and other complex healing conditions, the hospital announced.
Samuel Dodd, Medical Superintendent and Burns Surgeon at GKFH, explained that HBOT involves a patient breathing 100% pure oxygen while lying inside a pressurised chamber. The increased pressure allows oxygen to dissolve directly into the blood and body fluids at levels far higher than normal, super-oxygenating damaged tissue and accelerating the body's natural healing process.
The GKFH is one of the few facilities in South India offering advanced skin grafting and burn treatment. Over the past five years, the hospital's skin bank has performed 135 retrievals. As one of the top private hospitals with an active skin bank, it serves as a nodal point for recipients at institutions such as CMC Vellore and hospitals in Bhubaneswar and Thiruvananthapuram.
The HBOT unit will be integral to treatment for patients undergoing skin grafting and burn surgery at GKFH. It will also benefit patients across Madurai and neighbouring districts suffering from non-healing diabetic foot ulcers, severe burns, chronic bone and soft-tissue infections, crush injuries, radiation injuries, sudden hearing loss, and certain complications from cancer treatment.
A typical treatment session, called a 'dive', lasts between 90 and 120 minutes. Patients can listen to music or read during the therapy, which is described as a purely active healing process.
Dr. Dodd noted that the unit has already treated its first patient — a case of necrotizing fasciitis of the lower limb — as preoperative preparation for split skin grafting. 'It is an early demonstration of the therapy’s clinical value at the GKFH,' he added.
