What Researchers Did
Doctors in Vietnam reviewed the records of burn patients treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy at a naval medicine institute between 2018 and 2022.
What They Found
This case series of 82 thermal burn patients treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy reported a mean hospital stay of 8.9 plus or minus 3.0 days, which the authors described as lower than expected figures. The average patient age was 48.4 plus or minus 19.5 years, and 74.4% of burns were caused by boiling water. Just over half of patients (51.2%) had third-degree burns, while 80.5% had burns covering less than 10% of total body surface area. The abstract does not report pain scores, wound-healing rates, or a defined comparison group for the length-of-stay figure.
What This Means for Canadian Patients
This study describes the characteristics of burn patients who received hyperbaric oxygen therapy at one facility in Vietnam and their hospital stay, without reporting pain or wound-healing outcomes. Most patients had smaller burns (under 10% of body surface area), which limits how far these hospital-stay figures can be applied to patients with more extensive burns. Canadian patients considering hyperbaric oxygen therapy for burns should discuss what outcomes it may or may not affect with their care team, since this abstract does not address that.
Canadian Relevance
No direct Canadian connection identified.
Study Limitations
This is a retrospective and prospective case series with no control or comparison group, so the shorter-than-expected hospital stay cannot be attributed to hyperbaric oxygen therapy with confidence.