Emerging Indications for Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment: Registry Cohort Study

Area of Science:

• Hyperbaric medicine
• Regenerative medicine
• Clinical outcomes research

Background:

• Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) therapy offers hypoxia-relieving and anti-inflammatory benefits, suggesting potential for new medical applications.
• Identifying novel HBO2 indications is challenging due to fragmented data collection across treatment centers.
• The International Multicenter Registry for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy was established to prospectively collect patient outcome data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify emerging indications for HBO2 treatment outside of current established guidelines.
• To present outcome data for patients receiving HBO2 for these novel conditions.
• To leverage registry data for the advancement of hyperbaric medicine.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive study utilizing data from a web-based, international registry of patients treated with HBO2.
• Data collection involved prospective tracking of demographic, treatment, outcome, and complication information.
• Standardized quality of life questionnaires (e.g., EQ-5D-5L) and condition-specific measures were employed.

Main Results:

• Out of 9726 entries, 378 patients (3.89%) were treated for 45 emerging indications.
• Post-COVID-19 condition (PCC), ulcerative colitis, and Crohn disease constituted the majority of these emerging cases.
• Significant improvements were observed in patient-reported outcomes for PCC (Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory) and inflammatory bowel diseases (quality of life, symptom scores).

Conclusions:

• HBO2 therapy demonstrates statistically significant patient-reported outcome improvements for emerging conditions like inflammatory bowel disease and PCC.
• The registry data supports the expanding use of HBO2 for conditions including frostbite, calciphylaxis, and various wounds.
• Continued data collection in the registry is crucial for validating and expanding the evidence base for novel HBO2 applications.