Monitoring the Effect of Continuous Topical Oxygen Therapy With Near-Infrared Spectroscopy: A Pilot Case Series in Wound Healing

Background. Sufficient oxygen is critical for multiple processes in wound healing. Nonhealing wounds have low tissue oxygen levels due to damaged microvasculature and comorbidities limiting tissue perfusion. Hypoxia may be reversed using continuous topical oxygen therapy (cTOT). Objective measures to identify and track hypoxic wounds and their response to adjunctive oxygen are key. Objective. To understand the effect of cTOT on recalcitrant wounds by tracking wound area and changes in tissue oxygenation using a near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) device. Materials and Methods. Five patients with nonhealing wounds received treatment with cTOT over 5 weeks. Routine wound measures and tissue oxygenation were recorded over that period. Results. Reductions in wound area and improvements in tissue oxygenation were seen in all 5 patients, with 3 patients healing within 5 weeks despite the previous long duration of their wounds. Trends in tissue oxygenation and relative wound surface area over the treatment period demonstrated a reduction in wound area as tissue oxygenation improved. Conclusion. This case series reinforces previous studies that cTOT is an effective, noninvasive treatment as a key adjunct to standard care in nonhealing wounds. Moreover, point-of-care tools such as the NIRS imaging device provided objective information concerning tissue oxygenation improvements, thus giving useful insights to the clinician.