Safety and efficacy of early postoperative hyperbaric oxygen therapy with restriction of transfusions in patients with HCC who have undergone partial hepatectomy.

What Researchers Did

Researchers conducted a prospective randomised study on 41 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who underwent partial hepatectomy to evaluate if early postoperative hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) could reduce the need for blood transfusions.

What They Found

In six HBOT patients experiencing major bleeding or hepatic hypoxia, ShvO2 and serum lactate levels significantly improved after treatment. The HBOT group demonstrated better changes in ShvO2, serum lactate, and bilirubin levels over the first three postoperative days compared to the control group, with no fatal complications observed.

Canadian Relevance

This study has no direct Canadian connection as it was conducted in a different country.

Study Limitations

A key limitation of this study is its relatively small sample size of 41 patients, which may limit the generalizability of the findings.