What Researchers Did
Researchers conducted a randomised double-blind study with 32 subjects with acute ankle sprains to compare hyperbaric oxygen therapy with air treatment in a hyperbaric chamber.
What They Found
The hyperbaric oxygen group showed a significantly greater improvement in joint function, with the functional index improving from 0.40 to 6.3, compared to 0.8 to 5.3 in the air group. Subjective pain also decreased more substantially in the treatment group (from 3.3 to 0.8) than in the control group (from 2.6 to 0.3), though no differences were noted in foot and ankle volume, range of motion, or time to recovery (approximately 16 days for both).
Canadian Relevance
This study has no direct Canadian connection as it was not conducted in Canada nor involved Canadian researchers or participants.
Study Limitations
A limitation of this study is its small sample size of 32 participants, which may limit the generalizability of the findings.