Long term outcomes of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in post covid condition: longitudinal follow-up of a randomized controlled trial

Abstract In our previous randomized controlled trial, we documented significant improvements in cognitive, psychiatric, fatigue, sleep, and pain symptoms among long Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID) patients who underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). The primary objective of the present study was to evaluate the enduring 1 year long term effects of HBOT on long COVID syndrome. This longitudinal long-term follow-up included 31 patients with reported post COVID-19 cognitive symptoms, who underwent 40 daily sessions of HBOT. Participants were recruited more than one year (486 ± 73) after completion of the last HBOT session. Quality of life, assessed using the short form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire revealed, that the long-term results exhibited a similar magnitude of improvement as the short-term outcomes following HBOT across most domains. Regarding sleep quality, improvements were observed in global score and across five sleep domains with effect sizes of moderate magnitude during the short-term evaluation, and these improvements persisted in the long-term assessment (effect size (ES1) = 0.47–0.79). In the realm of neuropsychiatric symptoms, as evaluated by the brief symptom inventory-18 (BSI-18), the short-term assessment following HBOT demonstrated a large effect size, and this effect persisted at the long-term evaluation. Both pain severity (ES1 = 0.69) and pain interference (ES1 = 0.83), had significant improvements during the short-term assessment post HBOT, which persisted at long term. The results indicate HBOT can improve the quality of life, quality of sleep, psychiatric and pain symptoms of patients suffering from long COVID. The clinical improvements gained by HBOT are persistent even 1 year after the last HBOT session

Physical enhancement of older adults using hyperbaric oxygen: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract Introduction Aging is associated with a progressive decline in the capacity for physical activity. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the effect of an intermittent hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) protocol on maximal physical performance and cardiac perfusion in sedentary older adults. Methods A randomized controlled clinical trial randomized 63 adults (> 64yrs) either to HBOT (n = 30) or control arms (n = 33) for three months. Primary endpoint included the maximal oxygen consumption (VO2Max) and VO2Max/Kg, on an E100 cycle ergometer. Secondary endpoints included cardiac perfusion, evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging and pulmonary function. The HBOT protocol comprised of 60 sessions administered on a daily basis, for 12 consecutive weeks, breathing 100% oxygen at 2 absolute atmospheres (ATA) for 90 min with 5-minute air breaks every 20 min. Results Following HBOT, improvements were observed in VO2Max/kg, with a significant increase of 1.91 ± 3.29 ml/kg/min indicated by a net effect size of 0.455 (p = 0.0034). Additionally, oxygen consumption measured at the first ventilatory threshold (VO2VT1) showed a significant increase by 160.03 ± 155.35 ml/min (p < 0.001) with a net effect size of 0.617. Furthermore, both cardiac blood flow (MBF) and cardiac blood volume (MBV) exhibited significant increases when compared to the control group. The net effect size for MBF was large at 0.797 (p = 0.008), while the net effect size for MBV was even larger at 0.896 (p = 0.009). Conclusion The findings of the study indicate that HBOT has the potential to improve physical performance in aging adults. The enhancements observed encompass improvements in key factors including VO2Max, and VO2VT1. An important mechanism contributing to these improvements is the heightened cardiac perfusion induced by HBOT. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT02790541 (registration date 06/06/2016)

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy compared to pharmacological intervention in fibromyalgia patients following traumatic brain injury: A randomized, controlled trial.

Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain syndrome with unsatisfactory response to current treatments. Physical trauma, including traumatic brain Injury (TBI) is among the etiological triggers. Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy (HBOT) is an intervention that combines 100% oxygen with elevated atmospheric pressure. HBOT has been applied as a neuro-modulatory treatment in central nervous system-related conditions. The current study investigated the utility of HBOT for TBI-related fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia patients with a history of TBI were randomized to either HBOT or pharmacological intervention. HBOT protocol comprised 60 daily sessions, breathing 100% oxygen by mask at 2 absolute atmospheres (ATA) for 90 minutes. Pharmacological treatment included Pregabalin or Duloxetine. The primary outcome was subjective pain intensity on visual analogue scale (VAS); Secondary endpoints included questionnaires assessing fibromyalgia symptoms as well as Tc-99m-ECD SPECT brain imaging. Pain threshold and conditioned pain modulation (CPM) were also assessed. Results demonstrated a significant group-by-time interaction in pain intensity post-HBOT compared to the medication group (p = 0.001), with a large net effect size (d = -0.95) in pain intensity reduction following HBOT compared to medications. Fibromyalgia related symptoms and pain questionnaires demonstrated significant improvements induced by HBOT as well as improvements in quality of life and increase in pain thresholds and CPM. SPECT demonstrated significant group-by-time interactions between HBOT and medication groups in the left frontal and the right temporal cortex. In conclusion, HBOT can improve pain symptoms, quality of life, emotional and social function of patients suffering from FMS triggered by TBI. The beneficial clinical effect is correlated with increased brain activity in frontal and parietal regions, associated with executive function and emotional processing