What Researchers Did
Researchers retrospectively reviewed the charts of 75 patients treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy for mandibular osteoradionecrosis or as prophylaxis at Toronto General Hospital between 1985 and 1997.
What They Found
Among 51 patients treated for overt osteoradionecrosis (Group A), only 3 (5.9%) failed to show improvement with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. For 24 patients who received prophylactic hyperbaric oxygen therapy before dental extractions (Group B), only 1 (4.2%) experienced healing complications.
What This Means for Canadian Patients
Canadian patients with mandibular osteoradionecrosis may benefit from hyperbaric oxygen therapy as an adjunctive treatment to improve outcomes. Furthermore, those at high risk for developing osteoradionecrosis who require dental extractions could consider prophylactic hyperbaric oxygen to reduce complications.
Canadian Relevance
This study was conducted at Toronto General Hospital, providing direct evidence of hyperbaric oxygen therapy's efficacy within a Canadian healthcare setting.
Study Limitations
As a retrospective study with a relatively small sample size and no control group, these findings may be subject to selection bias and limit generalizability.