Yonsei University's Yongin Severance Hospital announced Wednesday that it has opened a hyperbaric oxygen therapy unit and begun full-scale operations.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy delivers high-concentration oxygen deep into body tissues inside a specialized chamber maintained at pressure levels above normal atmospheric pressure. The treatment is known to aid recovery of damaged tissues and help alleviate inflammation and infection. It is widely used not only for emergency conditions such as carbon monoxide poisoning, decompression sickness, air embolism and severe smoke inhalation injuries, but also across plastic surgery applications including wound care after skin grafts, flap surgery and digit replantation, as well as burn and chronic wound treatment.
In recent years, the scope of application has been expanding to include adjunctive treatment for radiation-induced tissue necrosis, diabetic foot ulcers, sudden sensorineural hearing loss and chronic refractory osteomyelitis that does not respond to conventional treatment.
The hyperbaric oxygen therapy unit at Yongin Severance Hospital is equipped with two hyperbaric chambers. Specially trained nurses are stationed on site to monitor patients' conditions in real time during treatment and respond swiftly in the event of an emergency.
"With the opening of this hyperbaric oxygen therapy unit, we expect to further improve recovery speed and treatment outcomes for patients undergoing post-surgical wound care and chronic wound treatment," said Jeong Bok-gi, head of the plastic surgery department. "We will do our best to enhance the quality of emergency and refractory wound care in the region, based on a patient-centered, integrated treatment environment."