Each year, between 1,500 and 2,500 cases of brain abscess are reported in the United States.
Treatment for a brain abscess can range from antibiotics to surgery, depending on the severity.
This blog discusses hyperbaric oxygen therapy for brain abscess treatment and how it helps with recovery.
Our HBOT USA clinic provides easy access to hyperbaric oxygen therapy for brain abscess in Morris County, NJ.
Before we get into hyperbaric oxygen therapy for brain abscess treatment in Morris County, NJ, let’s first talk about the condition.
A brain abscess is a collection of pus that forms in the brain as a result of an infection or trauma. It is still a serious and potentially fatal condition.
The consequences vary depending on the size of the abscess and its location in the brain.
It usually happens after an infection or a severe head injury when bacteria or fungi enter the brain tissue.
Swelling and irritation (inflammation) develop as a result. Infected brain cells, white blood cells, live and dead bacteria, and fungi congregate in a brain area.
Tissue forms around this area, resulting in a mass or abscess. Germs that cause a brain abscess can enter the brain via the blood.
They can also enter the brain directly, as in brain surgery. In some cases, a brain abscess develops as a result of a sinus infection.
The source of the infection is frequently unknown. The most common cause, however, is a lung infection. A heart infection is the cause less frequently.
The following factors increase your risk of developing a brain abscess:
Adult men under the age of 30 are the most likely to develop brain abscesses. They most commonly appear in children aged 4 to 7 years. Newborns are also vulnerable.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for brain abscess in Morris County, NJ is accessible to nearby residents.
It is best to check your symptoms if you suspect a brain abscess. Brain abscess symptoms can appear gradually over several weeks, or they can appear suddenly.
A seizure could be the first symptom of an abscess. As pressure builds inside the brain, nausea and vomiting are common.
Pain usually begins on the side of the abscess and can be sudden or gradual. Symptoms to watch out for include:
Changes in mental status occur in 65% of cases of brain abscess and can result in:
Neurologic problems affect 50-65% of people with brain abscesses. These problems frequently appear within days or weeks of a headache and can include:
Other signs and symptoms may include:
A brain abscess causes symptoms due to a combination of infection, brain tissue damage, and pressure on the brain as the abscess grows to take up more space.
If the headache suddenly worsens, the abscess may have ruptured. Symptoms can last up to two weeks in two-thirds of cases, according to Trusted Source.
Doctors typically diagnose the problem 8 days after symptoms appear.
A brain abscess is most likely caused by a bacterial or fungal infection in the brain. An abscess can also be caused by parasites.
Inflammation and swelling occur when bacteria, fungi, or parasites infect a part of the brain. The abscess in these cases will be made up of infected brain cells, active and dead white blood cells, and the organisms that are causing the problem.
As the cells multiply, a wall or membrane forms around the abscess. This aids in the isolation of the infection and prevents it from spreading to healthy tissue. When an abscess swells, it puts pressure on the surrounding brain tissue.
The skull is rigid and unable to expand. The abscess pressure can block blood vessels, preventing oxygen from reaching the brain and causing damage or destruction of delicate brain tissue.
For a variety of reasons, brain infections are relatively uncommon. One reason is the blood-brain barrier, a network of blood vessels and cells that protects the brain.
Certain components of the blood that flows to the brain are blocked, but others pass through. An infection can sometimes cross the blood-brain barrier.
This can occur when inflammation damages the barrier, causing gaps to form.
The infection enters the brain via three main pathways.
It may:
If an infection occurs elsewhere in the body, infectious organisms can enter the bloodstream, cross the blood-brain barrier, and infect the brain.
Pathogens that have traveled from another part of the body cause 9 to 43% of abscesses. Many bacterial brain abscesses are caused by a lesion elsewhere in the body.
It is critical to locate the primary lesion, or else the infection may reoccur. A person with a weakened immune system is more likely to develop a brain abscess as a result of a bloodborne infection.
The following are the most common infections known to cause brain abscesses:
An infection can spread from a nearby area, accounting for 14-58% of brain abscesses. If an infection begins inside the skull, such as in the nose or ear, it has the potential to spread to the brain. The following infections can cause a brain abscess:
Trauma, such as neurological surgery or a penetrating brain injury, can cause a brain abscess. An abscess can develop as a result of:
An abscess in the brain is a medical emergency. The pressure inside the skull can become dangerously high.
You will have to stay in the hospital until your condition stabilizes. Some people may require life-sustaining treatment.
Medicine, not surgery, is advised for the following:
To ensure that treatment is effective, you may be prescribed a variety of antibiotics. If the infection is caused by a fungus, antifungal medications may be prescribed. Surgery is required if:
Laboratory tests are frequently performed to examine the fluid. This aids in determining the source of the infection, allowing the appropriate antibiotics or antifungal medication to be prescribed.
According to research, when a patient with a brain abscess receives hyperbaric oxygen therapy in addition to antibiotics, the outcome is far more favorable, and surgery is less likely to be required.
Even when surgery is required, patients who receive hyperbaric oxygen therapy are more than twice as likely to recover completely without complications or the need for a second surgery.
This is most likely due to hyperbaric oxygen therapy increasing the amount of oxygen in the blood, enriching your plasma so much that it floods into your tissues.
This level of oxygen in your brain tissue kills infection by puncturing the individual cell walls of all pathogens with electrons while also restoring white blood cells to work against bacteria.
Because it significantly improves a patient’s outcome, hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been shown to be an effective complement to other treatments.
Because most organisms responsible for intracranial abscesses thrive in an oxygen-depleted environment, hyperbaric oxygen therapy provides a unique treatment option to patients with intracranial abscesses.
Because HBOT floods the body with 100% oxygen at high pressure, the area of the abscess is flooded with oxygen, limiting the bacteria’s or virus’s ability to spread and continue infecting.
Furthermore, HBOT works to reduce the swelling associated with abscesses while also boosting the body’s immune system to fight the infection.
The FDA has approved hyperbaric oxygen for the treatment of intracranial abscesses. This is especially true if the patient’s immune system is compromised or there are multiple abscesses.
Other indications include the abscess being in a deep or dominant location, or the patient being a poor surgical candidate.
For intracranial abscess patients who show little to no response or improvement after antibiotic therapy and surgical intervention, physicians turn to hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
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