What Researchers Did
Doctors reviewed medical records of nine sickle-cell disease patients who received hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for painful vaso-occlusive crisis after already being given standard treatment.
What They Found
This retrospective study of nine sickle-cell disease patients across 15 HBOT sessions found that pain scores fell significantly, from a median of 3.3 before HBOT to 1.9 twenty-four hours after HBOT (p equals 0.002), with no change in pain score seen before the HBOT session itself. Morphine doses had been rising before HBOT, from a median of 23 mg per day two days prior to 35.95 mg per day one day prior (p equals 0.04), then tended to fall to 23 mg per day one day after HBOT (p equals 0.08) and dropped to zero by two days after HBOT (p equals 0.004). Two patients experienced ear pain during compression that required stopping the session early, though neither had lasting effects.
Canadian Relevance
No direct Canadian connection identified.
Study Limitations
This is a small, retrospective case series of only nine patients with no control group, so the pain and morphine changes cannot be firmly attributed to HBOT rather than the natural course of the crisis or other treatments given around the same time.