What Researchers Did
Researchers reviewed six existing studies to see whether hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) helps venous leg ulcers heal better than standard care.
What They Found
This systematic review of six studies found no statistically significant difference in complete ulcer healing between HBOT and control groups, but did find a statistically significant reduction in ulcer area with HBOT. At 12-week follow-up (two studies), the odds ratio for complete healing was 1.54 (95% CI 0.50 to 4.75, p equals 0.4478); at 5-6 week follow-up (four studies), the odds ratio was 5.39 (95% CI 0.57 to 259.57, p equals 0.1136). All six studies reported change in ulcer area, and the pooled standardized mean difference favoured HBOT at 1.70 (95% CI 0.60 to 2.79, p equals 0.0024).
What This Means for Canadian Patients
For people with venous leg ulcers, this review found HBOT did not show a significant edge over standard care for achieving complete wound healing. It did find a significant reduction in ulcer area with HBOT, though the very wide confidence interval on one healing outcome (0.57 to 259.57) signals a lot of uncertainty behind these pooled numbers.
Canadian Relevance
No direct Canadian connection identified.
Study Limitations
The six included studies varied widely in control groups, outcome reporting, and follow-up length, and one data source was a published abstract rather than a full study, all of which limit how much confidence can be placed in the pooled results.