It's been a while since I have posted something, but I will be
less lazy now again.
One of my friends told me he had been bitten by a Brown Recluse spider,
and that the bite wound looks nasty. He is of course already under the
care of a MD in his hometown. Nevertheless I was of course curious
about what's out there in regards to hyperbarics and spider bites. Here is
what I found:
"Hyperbaric oxygen. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been used successfully in the management of necrotic wounds, but not in all cases. It is thought to be useful in the treatment of brown recluse spider bites through two different mechanisms. First, the hypoxic nature of nonhealing wounds suggests a strong relationship between healing and oxygen supply. Sheffield and Dunn showed that wound oxygen tension is elevated with hyperbaric treatments. The second mechanism of action directly involves the venom, possibly inactivating its necrotizing component. Sphingomyelinase-D digests the intercellular matrix, allowing the venom to spread; hypothetically, hyperbaric oxygen therapy denatures the sphingomyelinase-D. One study disputes this theory; however, the sphingomyelinase-D was not tested at clinical levels. Controlled animal and human studies are still needed to conclusively demonstrate the efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen therapy."1
"The effect of hyperbaric oxygen in decreasing the size of necrotic skin lesions resulting from brown recluse envenomation has also been studied. One study using white rabbits showed an earlier reepithelization of the necrotic ulcers when these rabbits were treated with hyperbaric oxygen twice daily. Treatments were initiated at 72 hours after injection of venom. Maynor et al speculated that hyperbaric oxygen inactivated sphingomyelinase D by the disruption of sulfhydryl groups. Hyperbaric oxygen has also been postulated to decrease wound damage secondary to brown recluse envenomation in at least two additional ways. It has been speculated that wound damage is decreased in part because of the pulmonary sequestration of neutrophils. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy also increases the production of collagen by fibroblasts, thereby facilitating wound healing. Beilman et al found that guinea pig models which had hyperbaric oxygen therapy as pretreatment had significantly smaller areas of necrosis when compared with control animals or animals given dapsone as pretreatment."2
Not everything absolutely conclusive, but good enough for me to tell my friend to throw some hyperbaric treatments into his protocol.
Looks like that Brown Recluse venom is real nasty, so every little thing that can help
on top of regular doctors protocols in my opinion should be welcome, especially
in those bite cases where it comes to complications with the wound.
1) http://www.o-wm.com/content/brown-recluse-spider-bites-a-complex-problem-wound-a-brief-review-and-case-study?page=0,3
2) http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/405814_7
