What Researchers Did
This pilot study investigated the efficacy, safety, and feasibility of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) for acute ischemic stroke in patients who did not receive thrombolytics.
What They Found
Researchers found no significant difference in patient improvement between the HBO and sham groups at 24 hours (P=0.44).
However, at 3 months, a larger percentage of sham patients had good outcomes compared to the HBO group across several measures: NIHSS (80% versus 31.3%; P=0.04), modified Rankin Scale (81.8% versus 31.3%; P=0.02), and Glasgow Outcome Scale (90.9% versus 37.5%; P=0.01).
The study concluded that while the HBO protocol was feasible and safe, it did not appear beneficial and might even be harmful in patients with acute ischemic stroke.
Canadian Relevance
No direct Canadian connection identified.
Study Limitations
This was a small, randomized pilot study with only 33 patients, which limits the generalizability and statistical power of its findings.