What Researchers Did
Doctors described one adult patient who developed a severe bowel infection (necrotising enterocolitis) after abdominal and urinary tract surgery, and who received hyperbaric oxygen therapy alongside other treatment.
What They Found
This is a single case report describing one male patient whose post-operative necrotising enterocolitis was treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy in addition to standard care. The authors describe the complication as arising from reduced blood flow to the bowel lining and overgrowth of anaerobic bacteria after a period of post-surgical bowel paralysis. They note that the abnormal appearance of the intestine can make early re-operation difficult to decide on. The authors describe hyperbaric oxygen therapy as seeming to be a useful adjunct treatment in this case, without reporting specific outcome measures, survival data, or statistics.
Canadian Relevance
No direct Canadian connection identified.
Study Limitations
This is a single case report with no comparison group, no statistical analysis, and no long-term outcome data, so no conclusions can be drawn about how well hyperbaric oxygen therapy works for this condition.