What Researchers Did
Researchers studied 100 patients in a vegetative state after brain injury to see if adding Xingnao Kaiqiao acupuncture to a regimen of rehabilitation and hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) improved their recovery compared to rehabilitation and HBOT alone.
What They Found
After 30 days, both groups showed improved Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) scores compared to before treatment. The group receiving acupuncture in addition to rehabilitation and HBOT had significantly higher scores and a higher wake-up rate of 16.7% (8/48) compared to 12.0% (6/50) in the group receiving only rehabilitation and HBOT.
Canadian Relevance
No direct Canadian connection identified. The study is not Canadian, and vegetative state after brain injury is not a Health Canada-recognised indication for hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Study Limitations
The study primarily focused on the added benefit of acupuncture, and the specific hyperbaric oxygen therapy protocol used was not detailed, making it difficult to assess HBOT's independent contribution or replicate the HBOT aspect of the treatment.