The Polemics of Hyperbaric Medicine

The history of modern hyperbaric medicine dates back to around 1620, when Drebbel developed a one-atmosphere diving bell. Forty years later, Boyle and Gay-Lussac formulated the General Gas Law. The modern age of hyperbaric medicine began in 1937, when Benke and Shaw used a hyperbaric chamber to treat decompression sickness (DCS). It was not until 1955 that interest awakened in using hyperbaric oxygenation therapy (HBOT) for conditions other than DCS. That year, Churchill-Davidson began to use oxygen therapy in a hyperbaric chamber to treat radiotherapy-induced damage in cancer patients. In 1956, Boerema of Holland performed the first reported heart surgery in a hyperbaric chamber. In 1962, Sharp and Smith of Scotland were first to treat carbon monoxide poisoning by HBOT. In 1965, Perrins in the United Kingdom showed the effectiveness of HBOT in osteomyelitis. In 1966, Saltzman et al. in the United States showed the effectiveness of HBOT in stroke patients. In 1970, Boschetty and Cemoch of Czechoslovakia used HBOT for multiple sclerosis. In 1971 Lamm of West Germany used HBOT for treatment of sudden deafness. In 1973, Thurston showed that HBOT reduces mortality in myocardial infarction.' The Undersea Medical Society was formed in the United States in 1967, and added hyperbaric to its name i