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Case Report
Ischemic Scleroderma Wounds Successfully Treated with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Y. MICHAEL MARKUS, MARY J. BELL, and A. WAYNE EVANS ABSTRACT. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been used to treat refractory wounds for the last several decades, with the majority of research focusing on wounds secondary to arterial insufficiency. We describe 2 patients with scleroderma with intractable bilateral extremity ulcers. Local ischemia was identified using transcutaneous oximetry. Each patient then underwent 30 treatments of HBOT at a relative depth of 2.4 ATA with resulting wound healing. This is the first reported successful use of HBOT to treat scleroderma ulcers, and may represent an unrecognized treatment option for these notoriously difficult chronic wounds. (J Rheumatol 2006;33:1694–6) Key Indexing Terms:
DIFFUSE SCLERODERMA From the Division of Rheumatology, Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre; and the Department of Anesthesia, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. Y.M. Markus, MD, MPH&TM, Resident, Division of Occupational Medicine; M.J. Bell, MD, FRCPC, Head, Division of Rheumatology, Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto; A.W. Evans, MD, Staff Physician, Hyperbaric Unit, Toronto General Hospital, Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesia, University of Toronto. Address reprints requests to Dr. A.W. Evans, Toronto General Hospital Hyperbaric Unit, Eaton Wing, Room 233, 200 Elizabeth St., Toronto, ON, M5G 2C4. E-mail: Wayne.evans@utoronto.ca Accepted for publication March 28, 2006.
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