Why does the treatment of gas gangrene sometimes involve placing the patient in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber? (Hint: Think about the pathogen that causes this disease) Gas gangrene is a bacterial infection that produces gas in tissues in gangrene. This deadly form of gangrene usually is caused by Clostridium perfringens bacteria. Clostridium perfringens is a Gram- positive, rod-shaped, anaerobic bacterium of the genus Clostridium. A hyperbaric oxygen chamber is used to administer hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) , the medical use of oxygen at an ambient pressure higher than atmospheric pressure. The aim of HBOT is to increase the amount of oxygen reaching body tissues. Since Clostridium perfringens is an anaerobic bacteria, increasing the oxygen concentration in the tissues of an infected patient may help to increase exposure of the pathogenic bacteria to oxygen, which would kill it.