What Researchers Did
Doctors studied children with birth defects of the anus and rectum who had a surgical repair called posterior sagittal anorectoplasty, followed by oxygen therapy in a pressurized chamber after surgery.
What They Found
This was a single-arm case series of 29 children, ages zero to ten, with anorectal anomalies treated between 1987 and 1991, and it did not include a comparison group. Twelve of the 29 children were under six months old, and 23 had a colostomy before the main repair surgery. All patients received hyperbaric oxygen therapy after surgery. Longer-term results were reported for 17 of the 29 children: outcomes were good in 12 and satisfactory in one, and no deaths occurred in this group.
Canadian Relevance
No direct Canadian connection identified.
Study Limitations
This is an old, single-arm case series with no control group, and full late-term results are reported for only 17 of the 29 children, so the contribution of hyperbaric oxygen therapy to recovery cannot be determined from this data.