A ‘deep dive’ with the RBWH hyperbaric medicine team

RBWH patient Gordon getting ready to undergo hyperbaric oxygen therapy at RBWH.

It’s not quite ‘under the sea’, but every week at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH), patients are taking a dive in the hospital’s hyperbaric chamber as part of their treatment.

Hyperbaric Medicine Staff Specialist Dr Graeme Kay explains the types of patients they work with.

“If people know about hyperbaric medicine, it’s usually related to helping divers recover from decompression sickness, also known as the bends,” Dr Kay said.

“While that is part of our work, it’s far from our day-to-day. On a typical day in our hyperbaric chamber, you would find people there to help their wounds heal and others with soft tissue infections or radiation injuries.”

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy works by delivering pure oxygen to the body in an enclosed space, with higher-than-normal air pressure. This gets more oxygen to tissue damaged by disease or injury to aid recovery.

RBWH patient Gordon now has 35 dives under his belt as part of helping oxygenate his blood to treat chronic wounds.

“I feel like the oxygen treatment is really helping. The technology is amazing, and it’s incredible how my whole body feels the effects of oxygenating my blood supply,” Gordon said.

“The feeling of being in the chamber is a little strange at first. It’s a little bit like a wine buzz, but without the ill effects.”

Dr Kay has now been with the service for 8 years and continues to see the uses of oxygen therapy evolve.

“Research continues to demonstrate the diversity of uses for oxygen therapy. I have no doubt we will continue to see demand for our service grow as we take more dives with our patients,” Dr Kay said.

More information about the RBWH Hyperbaric Medicine Service is available here.