What Researchers Did
Researchers investigated the effectiveness of adjuvant hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) combined with antibiotics for hardware-related infections in 12 neuromodulation patients.
What They Found
Adjuvant HBOT successfully treated 12 out of 14 (86%) hardware-related infection events without requiring hardware removal. Hardware was removed in 2 cases due to HBOT failure, but long-term infection control was achieved for all patients. One intrathecal pump malfunction occurred during HBOT, prompting a change in manufacturer guidelines.
What This Means for Canadian Patients
For Canadian patients undergoing neuromodulation therapies, adjuvant hyperbaric oxygen therapy could potentially reduce the need for surgical removal of infected hardware. This may lead to fewer invasive procedures and less interruption of their ongoing treatment.
Canadian Relevance
This study was conducted in Sweden and has no direct Canadian connection.
Study Limitations
This study was limited by its small sample size and retrospective design, warranting further prospective research.