What Researchers Did
Doctors at one hyperbaric centre reviewed the records of patients treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for malignant otitis externa, a serious ear infection that can spread to nearby bone.
What They Found
This retrospective review of 16 patients treated between 1998 and 2016 found that all patients were disease-free after treatment and no patients died from the infection. Most patients had advanced disease at referral (53% stage 4), and seven patients (43.75%) had facial nerve palsy. Patients received an average of 33 HBOT sessions. The study also found that the time from starting HBOT to cure was significantly shorter than the time patients had already spent in hospital before starting HBOT (p equals 0.028).
Canadian Relevance
No direct Canadian connection identified.
Study Limitations
This was a small, single-centre retrospective study with no control group, so it cannot prove that HBOT itself caused the disease-free outcomes.