The known impact of hyperbaric oxygen in stimulating new blood vessel formation is an obvious and important mechanism in the treatment of radiation injury.
A consistent cause and manifestation of radiation injury is vascular destruction and thick tissue scarring. Hyperbaric oxygen has been applied as a therapy for delayed radiation injury for more than 30 years. Informal surveys have shown that at most hyperbaric centres in the US, nearly one half of all patients receiving hyperbaric oxygen are being treated for radiation injury.
