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Cutting Edge Veterinary Medical Technology

Veterinary Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT)

Veterinary Hyperbaric Medicine Society (VHMS), USA position statement:

The use of HBOT has the potential to accelerate the normal healing process and thus the potential to enhance the health and welfare of animals.


Physiologic Mechanism of HBOT

Physiologic mechanisms of HBOT include:
·       Hyperoxygenation
·       Decrease gas bubble size
·       Vasoconstriction
·       Angiogenesis
·       Fibroblast proliferation / Collagen Synthesis
·       Leukocyte oxidative killing
·       Reduces intravascular leukocyte adherence
·       Reduces lipid peroxidation
·       Toxin inhibition
·       Antibiotic synergy
·       Own stem cell multiplication
·       Decreased oxidative injury to cells
·       Reduced inflammation.
·       Immune-stimulating effects .

     HBOT aids healing in the following ways:
Increasing oxygen to the body stimulates growth of new blood vessels in bone or soft tissue, thus allowing more oxygen-rich blood to reach the affected area after treatment. 

Swelling and inflammation are decreased, allowing blood (and therefore oxygen) to flow more freely to the area.

High oxygen levels increase the ability of the white blood cells to kill bacteria in infected tissues. Anaerobic bacteria are killed directly by the high level of oxygen reaching infected tissues, even if normal circulation has been affected.


HBOT is an adjunctive therapy for your horse that is typically helpful in treating any condition or disease in which the circulation to any diseased or injured tissue has been compromised. 

Equine patients have many conditions similar to those on the list for humans, especially wounds with poorly vascular, traumatized tissue or flaps, soft tissue infections, such as tendon sheath infections, and bone infections or osteomyelitis. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been used to treat various other conditions in horses, including birth asphyxia; peripheral nerve injury, such as brachial plexus injury; intestinal ischemia, such as colon torsion and small intestinal strangulation; and spinal trauma.

It can be used to treat a wide variety of conditions and ailments including ligament disease, tendonitis, fractures, laminitis, wounds and infertility to name a few.


Much of the basic research showing these effects has been conducted in animal models of human disease, and veterinary professionals are now able to use this information for equine patients.

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