Clinical Study Clinical and experimental rheumatology 2019

Neuromuscular efficiency in fibromyalgia is improved by hyperbaric oxygen therapy: looking inside muscles by means of surface electromyography.

Casale R, Boccia G, Symeonidou Z, Atzeni F, Batticciotto A, Salaffi F, et al. — Clinical and experimental rheumatology, 2019

View Original on PubMed PMID 30747100

Tier 2, Indexed

Automatically imported from PubMed based on relevance criteria.

Summary

What Researchers Did

Researchers conducted an observational longitudinal study to assess changes in neuromuscular efficiency (NME) using surface electromyography (sEMG) in 22 fibromyalgia patients undergoing 20 sessions of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT).

What They Found

After 20 sessions of HBOT, NME significantly increased from 1.6±1.1 to 2.1±0.8 (p=0.050) in the fibromyalgia patients. Maximal strength, however, did not change (49±20 N before vs. 49±19 N after the first session, p=0.792). This indicates that HBOT improved the central motor command's ability to generate effort with fewer muscle fibers.

Canadian Relevance

This study has no direct Canadian connection as it was not conducted in Canada, nor did it involve Canadian researchers or participants.

Study Limitations

The study was an observational longitudinal design with a small sample size of 22 patients, which may limit the generalizability of the findings.

This plain-language summary is generated with AI assistance and checked against the source abstract before publication. See our editorial policy.

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Study Details

Study Type	Clinical Study
Category	Neurological
Source	Pubmed
PubMed ID	30747100
Year Published	2019
Journal	Clinical and experimental rheumatology
MeSH Terms	Electromyography; Fatigue; Female; Fibromyalgia; Humans; Hyperbaric Oxygenation; Isometric Contraction; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Middle Aged; Muscle Contraction; Muscle Fatigue; Muscle, Skeletal; Neuromuscular Junction

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Last reviewed: April 2, 2026 | Reviewed by: Canada Hyperbarics Editorial Team | Editorial process | Research sources | Counts & methodology