Hyperbaric oxygen treatment as an adjuvant to reconstructive vascular surgery in trauma.

A series of 7 young, healthy persons suffering severe vascular trauma and acute ischaemia of their limbs is presented. Standard vascular repair, although technically successful, failed to achieve satisfactory restoration of the circulation and the limbs remained severely ischaemic. Hyperbaric oxygen treatment at 2-8 atm (approximately 290 kPa) prevented the development of gangrene in all cases. This treatment is considered to be a very useful adjuvant to reconstructive vascular surgery in cases which come to repair late after injury.