Hyperbaric Medicine Facilitates Recovery for Patients with Oxygen-Deprived Tissues
Dr. Juan Miguel Batle has been the director of Medisub, the Hyperbaric Medicine Center at Clínica Juaneda, since 1995. This center boasts the only hyperbaric chamber of its kind in the Balearic Islands. Initially pioneering treatments for divers who surface without proper decompression, the center also addresses a wide range of conditions, facilitating recovery for many.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is primarily indicated for gas embolism, decompression sickness (common in divers), intrathoracic hypertension syndrome, smoke inhalation poisoning, and gas gangrene or clostridial myonecrosis. Secondary indications include necrotizing soft tissue infections, cellulitis, myonecrosis, Fournier's gangrene, crush syndrome, compartment syndrome, refractory chronic osteomyelitis, delayed wound healing (especially diabetic foot ulcers), bone or dental implants, grafts, and actinomycosis.
Additionally, HBOT is recommended for radiation-induced injuries in bone (osteoradionecrosis) and soft tissues (myelitis, proctitis, cystitis, enteritis, colitis, vaginitis, or laryngeal necrosis), offering treatment options beyond diving-related injuries.
How Hyperbaric Medicine Works
“Hyperbaric medicine increases the amount of oxygen we breathe, from 21% in the environment to 100%, at a pressure greater than two absolute atmospheres,” explains Dr. Batle. “The patient enters the chamber at this pressure, breathing 100% oxygen.”
The hyperbaric chamber is a sealed metal container accommodating five or six patients, with two additional spaces in an antechamber. The chamber at Clínica Juaneda can simulate pressures equivalent to 80 meters underwater, or 9 absolute atmospheres: "It’s akin to flying in an airplane."
Originally designed to treat decompression sickness, the chamber addresses issues when divers are exposed to high underwater pressure, dissolving nitrogen into their blood and tissues. Without proper decompression, nitrogen bubbles form. “By pressurizing the chamber,” Dr. Batle explains, “we reduce the size of these bubbles, dissolve them, and eliminate them.”
Applications Beyond Diving Accidents
HBOT is also used to oxygenate hypoxic tissues—those lacking oxygen. Normally, air contains 21% oxygen, but inside the chamber, patients breathe 100%, increasing dissolved oxygen in the blood by 2,500%.
This boost oxygenates hypoxic tissues, expediting recovery from certain injuries. For instance, diabetic foot ulcers, caused by poor circulation, heal faster with oxygen therapy. Similarly, cancer patients who suffer tissue damage from radiotherapy can recover more quickly in the chamber, as oxygen reaches previously deprived tissues.
Other conditions that benefit include sudden hearing loss caused by hypoxia in the ear, carbon monoxide poisoning from fires or heaters (common in winter), and various emergencies.
Emergency Support and Advanced Care
The Hyperbaric Medicine Center at Clínica Juaneda works closely with emergency services, including the hospital's ER, Ibsalut (061), and general emergency services (112), addressing cases of poisoning, urgent conditions, and diving accidents.
Since 1995, the center has provided pioneering care in the Balearic Islands with a specialized team and unique equipment, assisting not only divers but also a wide range of patients suffering from oxygen-deprived tissue conditions.
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