Compromised skin grafts and flaps

*A skin graft is a piece of skin transplanted onto a complex wound. A skin flap includes skin plus deeper tissues, sometimes muscle, blood vessels, and bone. Wound care specialists and reconstructive and plastic surgeons commonly perform skin transplants.

Skin grafts and flaps require a healthy, oxygenated wound bed to heal. Success may be compromised by an improperly prepared transplant site, the poor circulatory health of the patient, radiation treatment, or other factors.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is used both to prepare wound sites before transplant and to aid in healing after transplant of skin grafts and flaps. HBOT works by enhancing blood circulation and tissue oxygenation in the wound bed.