What Researchers Did
Researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate hyperbaric oxygen therapy as an adjunct to steroids for hospitalized patients with moderate-severe ulcerative colitis flares.
What They Found
A significantly higher proportion of HBOT-treated patients achieved clinical remission at study day 5 and 10 compared to the sham group (50% vs. 0%, p=0.04). Additionally, HBOT-treated patients less often required progression to second-line therapy during hospitalization (10% vs. 63%, p=0.04).
What This Means for Canadian Patients
For Canadian patients hospitalized with moderate-severe ulcerative colitis flares, hyperbaric oxygen therapy could potentially serve as an adjunctive treatment to steroids. This may help improve remission rates and reduce the need for second-line therapies like biologics or colectomy.
Canadian Relevance
This study has no direct Canadian connection as it was not conducted in Canada or with Canadian participants.
Study Limitations
A major limitation of this study is its early termination due to poor recruitment, resulting in a very small sample size of only 18 patients.