Flaps & Grafts: The Importance of Oxygen

Advanced surgeries involving flaps and grafts, including complex reconstructive surgeries, amputations, flaps and grafts associated with lower extremity diabetic ulcers and gender-affirming procedures, face significant challenges in healing.

Producing Desired Physical Changes With HBOT

When tissue is moved from one area to another, it often disrupts up to 90% of the blood supply, which can lead to complications or failure. All such surgeries involve some degree of risk for healing issues, and a significant percentage of these failures can be catastrophic. Before the use of HBOT in post-operative care, many patients required multiple (often 2-3) additional revision surgeries to finally achieve satisfactory results. These revisions came with astronomical financial and personal costs. The secret behind a successful, more natural appearing and functional result lies in flooding your system with oxygen and removing edema following the procedure. Fortunately, HBOT gets you there.

Why Do Flaps and Graft Surgeries Result in Disappointing Outcomes?

Moving skin or tissue with flap or grafting procedures is commonly used in complex surgical procedures including reconstruction after cancer surgeries, gender-affirming procedures, and other reconstructive surgeries. Unfortunately, these procedures have a predictably high failure rate due to the risk of infection or reduced blood flow, which can lead to tissue death (necrosis). Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has proven results in optimizing compromised tissue and avoiding the need for revision grafting, repeated flap surgeries, or treatments to address serious bacterial infections.

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The Laws of Physics – The “Magic” of HBOT for Flap and Graft Success

Without oxygen, the body cannot survive. Flooding your system with oxygen through hyperbaric oxygen therapy brings higher levels of success for the delicate and intricate flaps and grafts associated complicated reconstructive surgeries. Red blood cells are the natural transport system that delivers oxygen to your body.

Taking advantage of several laws of physics, HBOT enables us to use the body’s blood plasma to provide an alternate route through which the oxygen is delivered to your body and to the surgically altered areas – with truly remarkable outcomes. The questions to ask yourself are, “how many surgeries do I want?” and “how quickly and how well do I want to heal?”

Optimize the Results of Various Reconstructive Surgeries with HBOT

In cases such as breast reconstruction following mastectomy, post-burn reconstruction or complex injury repair, the use of flaps and grafts is essential to restore both form and function. However, because of the complexity and delicate nature of these procedures, healing can be slow, and the risk of complications is high. HBOT provides essential oxygen to the affected tissues, enhancing their recovery and improving overall outcomes.

HBOT helps reduce swelling, improve blood flow, and increase oxygenation in the transplanted tissues, resulting in faster healing times, better cosmetic results, and reduced scarring. This is particularly beneficial in reconstructive surgeries where the final goal is not only to restore function but also to ensure a natural and aesthetically pleasing appearance.