THE C HAM BE R OF
HEALING Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy at Boone
W
hen you walk into a hospital, specifically a wound clinic, the last thing you expect to smell are fresh baked goods. But if you were visiting Boone Hospital Center’s Wound Healing Center on the same day as Perry Leslie, that’s just what you may find. Perry made a habit of treating the staff to his homemade cookies and scones during his treatment period. Perry currently enjoys retired life with his wife, Janet, who he has known since attending Helias Catholic High School together in Jefferson City. He first visited Boone’s Wound Healing Center under the advisement of his urologist, Michael Cupp, MD. Perry is a cancer survivor, having first been diagnosed with prostate cancer 12 years ago. The radiation therapy used to treat his cancer would cause Radiation Cystitis. According to the National Library of Medicine, “Radiation Cystitis describes the side effect of Perry and his wife Janet. inflammation and subsequent destruction to the normal anatomy of the urinary bladder at the cellular level after the use of radiation in the treatment of multiple cancer types.” The damage that results can Simply put, oxygen plays a huge role in the internal wound-healing vary from person to person. process and hyperbaric oxygen therapy helps transport more For Perry, one persisting symptom was short bladder spasms, healing oxygen throughout our body. lasting 10 to 15 seconds but occurring 20 to 30 times throughout The air pressure inside a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber is a day. Perry eventually had his bladder cauterized, but it was not greater than normal atmospheric pressure. This causes the blood healing correctly, so to the Wound Healing Center he went. vessels to constrict, which helps to reduce swelling and improve Just as the name implies, the Wound Healing Center specializes blood flow. in treating non-healing wounds. Every wound is different, just as Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has become a more prevalent form every patient is, so the staff creates specialized treatment plans for of noninvasive treatment for radiation cystitis in recent years. every individual. For Perry, and up to 18% of wound care patients, The therapy stimulates angiogenesis, or the development of new the treatment plan would involve hyperbaric oxygen therapy. blood vessels, which reestablishes blood flow in the area and helps Hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves breathing pure oxygen in maintain bladder functionality. By experiencing hyperbaric oxygen a pressurized, enclosed environment; typically a chamber. Inside, therapy, Perry had the opportunity to heal his bladder from the patients gather more oxygen with every breath. The now oxygencauterization and find symptom relief from his radiation cystitis. rich blood carries 15 to 20 times the normal amount of oxygen The hyperbaric chamber is a clear, glass tube which patients throughout the body, which helps combat bacteria and promotes healing by stimulating the release of growth factors and stem cells. lay horizontally inside of on a gurney. Perry says seeing through
12
BOONE HEALTH
Summer 2022
