Laryngeal radionecrosis and hyperbaric oxygen therapy: report of 18 cases and review of the literature.

Laryngeal radionecrosis is a difficult late complication of radiotherapy. It is associated with hoarseness, edema, pain, weight loss, and upper airway obstruction. The medical treatment options are limited, and in severe cases, the patient may require tracheostomy or laryngectomy. We report clinical results in 18 patients treated with adjunctive hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy for severe radionecrosis of the larynx. Of these 18 patients, 2 had grade 3 and 16 had grade 4 radionecrosis. The patients received a mean number of 41 HBO treatments (range, 6 to 80) at 2 atmospheres absolute for 2 hours, twice a day, 6 days a week. Thirteen patients (72.2%) had a major improvement after HBO therapy, and none of them required total laryngectomy. All patients preserved their voice and deglutition in good or normal condition. Five patients (27.8%) failed to have a good response to HBO and underwent total laryngectomy. One of these patients had local recurrence of his cancer 4 months later, and the other 3 had significant concurrent medical problems. The remaining patient received only 6 HBO treatments because of emergency heart surgery. These encouraging results are comparable to those of smaller previous studies suggesting that HBO has a beneficial effect in the management of advanced laryngeal radionecrosis.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for laryngeal radionecrosis.

Radionecrosis of the larynx is a debilitating disease associated with pain, dysphagia, respiratory obstruction, and, in some cases, the need for laryngectomy. Persistent poor wound healing can lead to death. A series of eight patients with advanced (grades III and IV, Chandler classification) radionecrosis of the larynx treated with adjunctive hyperbaric oxygen therapy is presented. Signs and symptoms of radionecrosis were dramatically ameliorated in seven of eight patients, while one patient, despite subjective improvement, eventually required laryngectomy. There were no deaths. These results are compared to previous series on radionecrosis of the larynx in which hyperbaric oxygen was not used. This series indicates that hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a useful and effective adjunctive treatment modality in the management of laryngeal radionecrosis.

Treatment of radiation-induced tissue injury by hyperbaric oxygen.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy appears to be a beneficial adjunctive treatment modality in the management of radionecrosis of bone and soft tissue in the head and neck. The mechanism of such wound healing enhancement appears to be related to oxygen stimulation of fibroblastic activity and neovasculation. In this pilot study, involving 13 cases of refractory mandibular radionecrosis treated with hyperbaric oxygen, complete healing of soft tissue disease with covering of exposed bone has been noted in seven cases 11 to 27 months posttreatment; transient healing was seen in three cases; moderate to marked improvement in soft tissue disease has been noted in three cases. Pain relief was marked in six cases, moderate in four cases, and slight in one case of the 11 patients with significant pretreatment pain. Radiographic improvement was slight to moderate in ten cases. Four of the five patients with pathologic fractures developed a firm fibrous union of the mandibular segments during or shortly after treatment. Three additional cases of head and neck radionecrosis of other sites have noted significant improvement in their lesions during treatment. Three other patients with radionecrosis of the foot, hip, and vagina have also been treated with good results only in the vaginal case. None of the 19 patients treated with hyperbaric oxygen developed persistent or significant complications.

Hyperoxic myopia.

We have reported the development of 1.6 diopters of myopia in a group of patients exposed to reptitive oxygen breathing at two atmospheres absolute pressure. No significant change in corneal curvature accompanied this refractive change. During the three months following termination of the hyperoxic exposure, the myopia gradually disappeared. It is speculated that hyperoxygenation alters the metabolism of the adult lens producing an increase in its dioptric power.