Abstract
HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY; UTILITY IN MEDICAL & DENTAL FIELDS A REVIEW

Hyperbaric Medicine is the fascinating use of barometric pressure for delivering increased oxygen dissolved in plasma to body tissues. It is increasingly being used in a number of areas of medical practice. It is an accepted adjunctive therapy in conditions such as burns, crush injuries, head injuries, spinal cord injuries, reconstruction surgeries, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and High Altitude Cerebral Oedema (HACO), gas poisonings, gas gangrene, radiation injuries, acute hearing loss various anaerobic and aerobic infections that are commonly encountered in combat. Patients who have been suffering with non-healing ulcers, decubitus ulcers and all late sequelae of radiation therapy are also benefited with HBO therapy. Therapy is given in special therapeutic chambers. In the sixties HBO went out of practice because of its use without adequate scientific validation. Over the last two decades, animal studies, clinical trials and well-validated clinical experience has proved efficacy of HBO in many indications and there is recently a renewed interest in this field all over the world. With continuing growth all over the world Hyperbaric Medicine has found a distinct role in the modern era of evidence-based medicine. This article aims to give a brief overview of the rationale, existing trends and applications of this therapy.