What Researchers Did
Brazilian researchers compared how long it took patients with a fungal skin infection (cutaneous sporotrichosis) to heal when treated with itraconazole alone versus itraconazole plus HBOT.
What They Found
Patients receiving both itraconazole and HBOT healed in an average of 57.5 days, compared to 208.5 days for those on itraconazole alone, a more than 3.6-fold reduction in treatment time. Patients in the HBOT group received an average of 18 HBOT sessions and were 65 times more likely to achieve faster healing.
Canadian Relevance
No direct Canadian connection identified.
Study Limitations
The study groups were assessed at different time intervals (weekly for HBOT group, monthly for control), which may have introduced bias in how quickly healing was detected.