New Insights into Oxygen Therapy for Wound Healing
Oxygen is a powerful substrate and signal. The ability to understand and control this vital substance will open new avenues of therapy for multiple diseases. New insights into cutaneous oxygenation suggest that there may be a sound basis for topical oxygen therapy. The indications for systemic oxygen therapy are expanding as well, as research delves into the role of oxygen in pathophysiologic conditions. Previous therapeutic approaches simply relied on providing oxygen as a critical substrate for fundamental metabolic processes. New therapies that also utilize oxygen as a needed signal will further expand the indications for oxygen therapy.
Throughout history, native healers have recognized that wounds heal faster if a patient is transported from thin mountain air to a richer atmosphere (eg, a low-lying valley). In modernity, oxygen has been recognized as the element most essential to healing. Clinicians are now able to diagnose oxygen deficiency and administer oxygen therapy with increasingly advanced mechanisms and devices. The following review will examine the background as well as newer developments in this area.
Abstract and Introduction
Abstract
Oxygen is a powerful substrate and signal. The ability to understand and control this vital substance will open new avenues of therapy for multiple diseases. New insights into cutaneous oxygenation suggest that there may be a sound basis for topical oxygen therapy. The indications for systemic oxygen therapy are expanding as well, as research delves into the role of oxygen in pathophysiologic conditions. Previous therapeutic approaches simply relied on providing oxygen as a critical substrate for fundamental metabolic processes. New therapies that also utilize oxygen as a needed signal will further expand the indications for oxygen therapy.
Introduction
Throughout history, native healers have recognized that wounds heal faster if a patient is transported from thin mountain air to a richer atmosphere (eg, a low-lying valley). In modernity, oxygen has been recognized as the element most essential to healing. Clinicians are now able to diagnose oxygen deficiency and administer oxygen therapy with increasingly advanced mechanisms and devices. The following review will examine the background as well as newer developments in this area.
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