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Effects of hyperbaric oxygen on recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage in humans
Anthony L Webster1, Daniel G Syrotuik, Gordon J Bell
1Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2H9.
Objective:
To determine whether hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy could accelerate recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage in humans.
Design:
Pretest-posttest design with random assignment to either a treatment (HBO) or placebo control (sham) group.
Setting:
University of Alberta and Misericordia Hospital, Edmonton.
Participants:
12 healthy male students (24.2 +/- 3.2 years) who were unaccustomed to strenuous eccentric exercise of the calf muscles.
Interventions:
All subjects performed a strenuous eccentric exercise protocol designed to elicit muscle damage within the right gastrocnemius muscle. Subjects subsequently received either HBO (100% oxygen at 253 kPa [2.5 ATA] for 60 min; n = 6) or sham (atmospheric air at 132 kPa [1.3 ATA] for 60 min; n = 6) treatment conditions. The first treatment was administered 3-4 hours after damage, with a second and third at 24 and 48 hours after the first, respectively.
Main Outcome Measures:
Dependent variables included peak torque at 0.52 radians/s, peak isometric torque, and muscular endurance using isokinetic dynamometry; muscle cross-sectional area using magnetic resonance imaging; inorganic phosphate levels and T2 relaxation time using 31P and 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy; pain sensation and unpleasantness using the Descriptor Differential Scale. These variables were assessed at baseline and until day 5 postdamage.
Results:
There was little evidence of a difference in recovery rate between the HBO and sham groups. Faster recovery was observed in the HBO group only for isometric peak torque and pain sensation and unpleasantness.
Conclusions:
HBO cannot be recommended as an effective method of treatment of this form of muscle injury.