Clinical application of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in China: A 2020 baseline survey

This is the first nationwide survey to obtain baseline information on the clinical application of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) therapy in China. The findings provide a reference for future management and policy formulation research.

This questionnaire-based survey was implemented using an online survey tool. The survey assessed six aspects related to HBO2 practice: characteristics of institutions, departments/units, chambers, practitioners, treatment capacity, and scientific research.

Subjects were 1,924 institutions (2,699 HBO2 chambers and 11,266 practitioners) from 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions in mainland China. The findings showed that most institutions (86.9%) were public hospitals and 70.0% of chambers were air pressurized. The numbers of newly built HBO2 departments/units and chambers have gradually increased over the last five decades. We found that 70.8% of HBO2 departments/units were independent, most non-independent HBO2 units were affiliated to rehabilitation departments, and 88.1% of institutions had 24-hour emergency treatment capacity. Most institutions (44.5%) had 1,001 to 5,000 annual therapy sessions. In 2019, three conditions most frequently treated across the institutions were cerebrovascular diseases, carbon monoxide poisoning, and central nervous system injury. We identified the following shortcomings: shortage of doctors and (particularly) technicians; imbalances in emergency capacity, treatment facilities, and staff composition among institutions of different classifications; and little high-quality scientific research.

Chinese HBO2 therapy is flourishing. With the growth in emergency capacity, Chinese HBO2 and rehabilitation medicine are developing in a coordinated way. However, several shortcomings require addressing in future work.