The chances of survival for patients with critical burn injuries are likely to increase in the country, with Dhaka Medical College Hospital planning to introduce specialised Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) at the burn and plastic surgery unit.
Several specialists of the DMCH burn unit said hyperbaric oxygen therapy was urgently needed for arson attack victims, patients with electrical burns and other burn patients who had pre-existing diseases like diabetes.
Without the specialised HBOT facility, a large number of burn patients had to lose their lives or had to have their limbs amputated, they said.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves breathing pure oxygen in a room, where the air pressure is increased up to three times higher than atmospheric pressure.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is used in various medical conditions including the treatment of serious infections, reducing air bubbles in blood vessels, and treating wounds that would not heal because of diabetes or radiation injury.
The increased air pressure in the specialised HBOT room allows the lungs to gather up to three times more oxygen than would be possible to breathe pure oxygen at atmospheric pressure.
The additional intake of oxygen also helps stimulate the release of growth factor substances and stem cells, which in turn promote the healing process.
Prof Dr Md Sazzad Khondoker, head of the burn and plastic surgery unit, told the Dhaka Tribune that the unit’s doctors had to face difficulties while treating 98 petrol bomb victims who were attacked during 73 days of recent political unrest.
Most of the patients had their inhalation systems burnt and had trouble breathing, Khondoker said, adding that all those patients required hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Among the 22 arson attack victims who died, some could have been saved if the DMCH burn unit had the HBOT facilities, the unit chief said.
It has been learnt that the DMCH authority had submitted a Tk5 crore proposal to the Bangladesh Bank, seeking cooperation for setting up the hyperbaric oxygen therapy facilities at the DMCH burn unit.
Dr Khondoker said Bangladesh Bank has accepted the proposal, but could not ensure when the funding would be transferred. The donation would be sanctioned from the green banking fund of Bangladesh Bank.
He also said the central bank has already sanctioned Tk50 lakh to renovate the 20-bed HDU (High Dependency Unit) of burn unit, and expressed hopes that renovation would begin soon.