What Researchers Did
Researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of adjunctive hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT) for necrotising soft-tissue infections (NSTI).
What They Found
The meta-analysis of 48,744 NSTI patients found that in-hospital mortality was 9.8% overall. Adjunctive HBOT was associated with a significantly reduced odds of in-hospital mortality (pooled OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.33-0.58) compared to non-HBOT treated patients. For major amputation, the pooled odds ratio was 0.60 (95% CI 0.28-1.28) in favour of HBOT.
What This Means for Canadian Patients
For Canadian patients with necrotising soft-tissue infections, adjunctive hyperbaric oxygen treatment may improve survival outcomes. This suggests that HBOT could be a valuable addition to standard care for these severe infections.
Canadian Relevance
This study did not include any Canadian data or researchers. Therefore, there is no specific Canadian relevance identified.
Study Limitations
A limitation of this meta-analysis was the incomplete reporting of oxygen dose across the included studies.