What Researchers Did
Researchers retrospectively examined the medical records of 58 patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) who did or did not receive repetitive hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) at 2.8 atmospheres absolute (ATA) without revascularization.
What They Found
The study found that HBOT was an independent predictor for the absence of major adverse events (OR: 0.05; p<0.001) and for limb salvage (OR: 0.04; p=0.003). For patients with CLTI, 67% had diabetes and 43% were undergoing hemodialysis, with an overall survival rate of 84.5% at one year and 81.0% at three years.
Canadian Relevance
This study was not conducted by Canadian authors or in Canada. While chronic limb-threatening ischemia is not a direct Health Canada-recognized indication for hyperbaric oxygen therapy, the study's focus on limb salvage and the high percentage of diabetic patients (67%) may be relevant to the Health Canada-recognized indication of diabetic foot ulcers.
Study Limitations
A limitation of this study is its retrospective design with a relatively small sample size of 58 patients and a control group that included historical controls, which may introduce bias.