REPRINTED FROM THE 2023 HYPERBARIC INDICATIONS MANUAL 15TH EDITION:Randomized Controlled Trials in Hyperbaric...

The criticism has been made of hyperbaric medicine that treatment is based on little or no good clinical evidence. Recently, improved awareness among medical practitioners of the importance of evidence has highlighted this perception, as has the proliferation of both funder-generated reviews and technology assessments [1-3]. In fact, many clinical randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the application of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO₂) therapy have been reported, albeit of variable quality. It is the purpose of this review to describe the place of RCTs within the practice of evidence-based medicine (EBM), summarize the methods by which such trials can be located, discuss the appraisal and performance of RCTs with specific reference to hyperbaric medicine, and to provide a list of RCTs and meta-analyses in hyperbaric medicine to date.

Particular reference is made to the work of the Cochrane Collaboration within the field. An appendix provides a comprehensive list of published RCTs and meta-analyses arranged by indication (Appendix 1). To date, this list includes 416 citations of 390 trials.