Patients undergoing facial rhytidectomy surgery are expected to accept a moderate to severe degree of postoperative swelling during the first 7 to 14 days. The first 7 days maybe associated with some mild depression and significant facial disfigurement.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if the use of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in the immediate postoperative period would lessen the degree of facial swelling and hasten the recovery of the post facial rhytidectomy patients.

Methods: Ten consecutive patients were asked to be involved in a surgery. The Patients were self-selected to a degree because of the additional $600.00 per patient cost associated with the therapy. Five patients underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy and five did not.

Patients underwent their facial rejuvenation procedures under local and intravenous sedation. AU patients were cared for in the same 23-hour unit by trained nurses to help control discomfort and swelling. All patients had their drains removed on the second postoperative day. Patients in the hyperbaric oxygen therapy group had 60 minutes of treatments at 2 atmospheres in a single person chamber (Reneau) on the first, second, and third postoperative days. Photographs were taken preoperatively, and at day 3 and day 7 postoperatively.

Four members of our society with over 5 years of experience and a significant aesthetic surgery practice were asked to evaluate the degree of swelling exhibited by each patient’s front and profile photographs. The patient’s photographs were presented in random order and the evaluator was blinded as to whether the patient had received hyperbaric oxygen therapy. The evaluator was given the patient’s age and an exact description of procedures the patient had under gone. They graded each postoperative patient on a scale of one to ten. One being no swelling at all and ten describing as the most they have ever seen in comparison to their expectations for that particular postoperative day.