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CROHN'S
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
DISEASE
crohn's disease
"Treating the 14 conditions covered by OHIP"
Ontario HBOT
What is Crohn's Disease?
Including perineal, refractory, and intractable enteric ulcers
Crohn's disease is an inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract, usually involving the ileum, that can lead to debilitating symptoms of abdominal pain, diarrhea and malabsorption during acute exacerbations. The disease primarily affects the gastrointestinal system but other organs may be involved Because there is no known cause of the illness, treatment is based upon symptomatology and may ultimately require bowel resection if response to medical therapy is inadequate.
Clinical manifestations are heterogeneous and may vary from mild cases (abdominal pain, changes in bowel habit and weight loss) to serious complications such as acute abdomen, perineal sepsis, fistulizing disease and colorectal cancer. The course of the disease is usually relapsing but some individuals may experience continuous inflammation.
Since Crohn's Disease cannot be cured, most treatment options aim the induction and maintenance of remission by controlling inflammation. Surgery is usually recommended for non-responsive or complicated cases.
Crohn's Disease and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Treatment with hyperbaric oxygen has shown promise in the reduction of inflammation associated with acute exacerbations of Crohn's disease, with alleviation of symptoms and an improvement in quality of life. We present two cases of pediatric patients with exacerbations of Crohn's disease who underwent cycles of hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
The effects of HBOT in complex wounds include: decreased inflammation and tissue edema, mobilization of stem cells, neovascularization, fibroblasts growth and extracellular matrix formation. Those changes in wound microenvironment are powerful stimuli towards healing, especially those with complex wounds including fistulas.
Additional Literature
The following documents are sourced from respected medical journals regarding Crohn's Disease and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT).
Please click on the icon to open the PDF in your browser window. If you would like to download the PDF to your computer, right click on the icon and select "save linked file as".
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