HBOT For Bone Fracture: Fundamental Mechanisms

Out of Taiwan comes a new study with new insights into precisely how hyperbaric oxygen helps fractured bones heal. Scientists observed in vitro cultures of specialized bone-producing cells, called osteoblasts, under normal conditions and with hyperbaric oxygen. They found that "the proliferative effects of hyperbaric [oxygen] on osteoblasts may contribute to the recruitment of osteoblasts at the fracture site."

HBOT has long been used to treat broken bones associated with crush injuries, compartment syndrome, and other traumatic ischemias. Many hyperbaric physicians and patients claim HBOT accelerates the healing process. This primary research may support such claims by describing how hyperbaric oxygen stimulates the fundamental mechanisms of bone production.

A quick Google Scholar search shows nearly 7,000 articles on "hyperbaric AND fracture." Surely the next 7,000 will cite this study. And so will we, in a Bone Fractures page, coming soon to the HyperbaricLink Diseases and Conditions section.