What Researchers Did
Researchers reviewed existing studies to see whether hyperbaric oxygen therapy helps adults recover facial movement after Bell's palsy.
What They Found
This Cochrane systematic review found no randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials that met its eligibility criteria for hyperbaric oxygen therapy in Bell's palsy. The reviewers identified one relevant trial of 79 participants but excluded it because the person assessing facial outcomes was not blinded to which treatment participants received. In that excluded trial, 42 people got hyperbaric oxygen therapy (2.8 atmospheres, 60 minutes twice daily, five days a week until the palsy resolved, up to 30 sessions) plus placebo tablets, and 37 people got sham hyperbaric oxygen (normal oxygen pressure only) plus prednisone (40 mg twice daily, tapered over eight days). Facial function recovered in 40 of 42 (95%) in the hyperbaric oxygen group versus 28 of 37 (76%) in the sham-oxygen-plus-prednisone group (risk ratio 1.26, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.53), with no major complications reported and all participants completing the trial.
What This Means for Canadian Patients
The review authors describe this as very low quality evidence because the excluded trial's outcome assessors were not blinded, so it does not establish that hyperbaric oxygen therapy is an effective treatment for Bell's palsy. No properly qualifying trial evidence currently exists on this question, and the authors state that further randomised controlled trials are needed.
Canadian Relevance
No direct Canadian connection identified.
Study Limitations
The review found no trials meeting its inclusion criteria, and the one trial it examined was excluded for lack of blinding in outcome assessment, so its findings are rated very low quality and cannot support conclusions about hyperbaric oxygen therapy's effectiveness.