RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy on de novo bone formation during periosteal distraction (PD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Periosteal distraction was performed in 24 mature male New Zealand rabbits using a custom-designed device placed on the lateral surface of the mandibular corpus. Twelve rabbits (group H) were given adjunctive HBO treatment, whereas 12 rabbits (group N) were kept in a normal environment (normobaric oxygen). After a 7-day latency period, the same distraction protocol was applied to both groups. However, the rabbits in group H were treated with pure oxygen at 2.4 atm absolute for 25 times. Both groups were further divided into 2 subgroups and killed after consolidation periods of 4 and 8 weeks. Photodensitometric and histologic analyses were performed to evaluate the newly formed bone. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the 4-week consolidated HBO group and the 8-week consolidated normobaric oxygen subgroup (P = 0.229). Moreover, there was better bone formation in the 8-week HBO group than in the 8-week control group. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that PD with HBO could be used to increase the quality and the quantity of the bone newly formed by PD.