Effect of topical oxygen therapy on wound healing among patients with diabetic foot ulcer

The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of topical oxygen therapy on wound healing among patients with diabetic foot ulcer. The study was conducted at selected wards of Sri-Ramakrishna hospital. True-experimental design with consecutive sampling technique of 21 patients with diabetic foot ulcer were selected for the study. Glycosylated hemoglobin value was taken as the criteria to maintain homogeneity among the samples. The samples were randomly assigned to experimental (n=10) and the control group (n=11) respectively. The level of wound healing was assessed using Bates Jensen wound assessment tool (BWAT). Intervention was given to the experimental group for 30 minutes once daily for 10 days, whereas the control group received routine care. Post test was performed on the eleventh day with the same tool. Results showed that, the mean of experimental group and control group was 24.8 and 38.9 with the ‘t’ value of 3.38 which was significant at (p<0.01). There was a significant improvement in the level of wound healing among patients with diabetic foot ulcer after implementation of topical oxygen therapy. Hence the study concluded that administration of topical oxygen therapy was found to be effective measure in treating diabetic foot ulcer.