What Researchers Did
Clinicians reported a 43-year-old woman with pycnodysostosis (a rare bone disease causing fragile bones from osteoclast dysfunction) who had multiple failed surgeries for a femoral fracture, then received 39 HBOT sessions at 2.43 ATA for 120 minutes daily, five days per week.
What They Found
Post-treatment X-rays showed significant fracture healing with improvements continuing at one-month follow-up. Pain scores decreased from 4 to 1 on the visual analogue scale, and quality of life (SF-36) improved substantially. Bone union had not been achieved after multiple surgeries alone.
Canadian Relevance
No direct Canadian connection identified.
Study Limitations
Single case report for an extremely rare disease; the authors acknowledge that a controlled trial in pycnodysostosis is essentially unachievable given how few patients exist worldwide.