A Retrospective Chart Review of Chronic Wound Patients Treated with Topical Oxygen Therapy

Objective: Topical oxygen devices are Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared for the following indications for use of various etiologies: skin ulcerations due to diabetes, venous stasis, postsurgical infections and gangrenous lesions, decubitus ulcers; amputations/infected stumps; skin grafts; burns; and frostbite. The goal of this study was to understand the impact of topical oxygen therapy (TOT) on patient outcomes, including amputation and healing rates. Approach: This retrospective chart review included records collected between January 1, 2007, and July 18, 2016, from male and female patients ranging in age from 4 years to 105 years. All wounds were at least 1 cm(2) and were treated with at least one separate modality before treatment with TOT and then treated with TOT for a minimum of 2 weeks in compliance with the FDA-approved indications. All records were from wounds that were no longer being treated with TOT. Results: In this study, TOT was associated with an overall rate of 59.4% for a reduction in chronic wound size, while 41.6% of wounds had no healing. The overall amputation rate was 2.4% for wounds in this study. Innovation: To our knowledge, this retrospective chart review represents one of the largest data sets (4,127 total wounds) collected over one of the longest time periods (9.5 years) to evaluate patient outcomes following TOT. Conclusion: This study revealed healing and amputation rates similar to those reported in controlled clinical studies using TOT to treat chronic wounds.