What Researchers Did
Researchers retrospectively evaluated the feasibility and efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for severe vaso-occlusive crises (VOC) in nine sickle-cell disease patients who had not responded to conventional treatment.
What They Found
Pain scores significantly decreased from 3.3 before HBOT to 1.9 twenty-four hours after HBOT (P = 0.002). While morphine dosage increased from 23 mg/day to 35.95 mg/day in the two days prior to HBOT, it tended to be lower one day after HBOT (23 mg/day) and decreased to zero two days post-HBOT (P = 0.004). Two out of nine patients experienced ear pain during compression, leading to session interruption, but without lasting issues.
Canadian Relevance
This study was not conducted in Canada and does not have a direct Canadian connection.
Study Limitations
Key limitations include the retrospective design and the very small sample size of only nine patients, which limits the generalizability of the findings.