Osteomyelitis is an inflammation of bone tissue caused by an infective agent. Infection of a bone could occur after fracture or if an infectious focus in the very proximity of a bone exists (infection from the outside or exogenous infection) or could enter a bone by blood (hematogenous infection, infection from the inside or endogenous infection). In the affected bone tissue apparent are ischemia and hypoxia. Clinical picture could be manifested as acute, subacute or chronic.
Chronic osteomyelitis is an infection of bone lasting longer than 6 months with all histologic and radiologic signs of an infection or positive microbiological culture of bone fragment. The term "refractory" refers to the cases in which the defect would not heal despite all the measures, including surgical measures and antibiotic treatment. In the treatment of osteomyelitis, standard treatment includes surgical measures, antibiotics and HBOT.
HBOT will enable repair of bone tissue and an increase of partial pressure of oxygen from hypoxic to normoxic or even hyperoxic level, that results in stimulation of new blood vessels growth, increased production of leukocytes and their activity in the affected zone, enhanced transport of aminoglycosides over bacterial membrane, stimulated bone turn-over, i.e. osteoclastic (removal of necrotic bone tissue) and osteoblastic activity (growth of new bone tissue).
