Impact of Hyperbaric Oxygen on More Advanced Wagner Grades 3 and 4 Diabetic Foot Ulcers: Matching Therapy to Specific Wound Conditions

Objective: The goal of this research was to identify a population of diabetic foot ulcer patients who demonstrate a significant response to hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) using a large sample size to provide guidance for clinicians when treating these complicated patients. Approach: The effect of HBOT on diabetic foot ulcers, Wagner grades 3 and 4, was evaluated using a retrospective observational real-world data set. The study reported on the overall healing rate, (74.2%) at the population level, for >2 million wounds. Results: When a subgroup of patients of only foot ulcers with a Wagner grade 3 or 4 were considered, the healing rate was only 56.04%. The use of HBOT, without filtering for the number of treatments received, improved the healing rate to 60.01% overall. Healing rates for this same subgroup, however, were improved to 75.24% for patients who completed the prescribed number of hyperbaric treatments. Innovation: This observational study discusses the importance of reporting at the population level, specific wound etiology level, a risk-stratified level, and to then overlay the effect of treatment adherence on those outcomes to provide clinicians with a comprehensive understanding of when to prescribe an advanced modality such as hyperbaric oxygen. Conclusion: The authors provide healing outcomes data from several prior HBOT studies as well as other advanced modalities that have been used in diabetic foot ulcer care for comparison and context.