What Researchers Did
Researchers evaluated the therapeutic use of hyperbaric oxygenation in 193 patients with therapy-refractory tinnitus after primary hemorheologic therapy, assessing tinnitus before and after 10 and 15 sessions.
What They Found
Measurable improvements in tinnitus were observed in 22% of patients, with an additional 17% experiencing moderate improvement and 10.4% showing excellent improvement. Tinnitus completely disappeared in two patients, and the improvement rate was higher when treatment began within 40 days of onset.
What This Means for Canadian Patients
Canadian patients with therapy-refractory tinnitus might consider hyperbaric oxygenation as a moderately effective additional treatment. This treatment may be more beneficial if initiated within one month of tinnitus onset, following primary hemorheologic therapy.
Canadian Relevance
This study has no direct Canadian connection as it was conducted in Germany.
Study Limitations
A key limitation of this study is the absence of a control group, which prevents a definitive comparison of hyperbaric oxygenation's efficacy against other treatments or no additional treatment.