Two United States Air Force Airmen were injured in a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Iraq in January 2008. Both airmen suffered concussive injuries and developed irritability, sleep disturbances, headaches, memory difficulties and cognitive difficulties as symptoms of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Six months after injury, repeat Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics (ANAM) testing showed deterioration, when compared to pre-injury baseline ANAM assessment, in all measured areas (simple reaction time, procedural reaction time, code substitution learning, code substitution delayed, mathematical processing, and matching to sample). The airmen were treated with hyperbaric oxygen in treatments of 100% oxygen for one hour at 1.5 atmospheres absolute, resulting in rapid improvement of headaches and sleep disturbances, improvement in all symptoms and resolution of most symptoms. Repeat ANAM testing after completion of the hyperbaric treatments – nine months after initial injury – showed improvement in all areas, with most measures improving to pre-injury baseline levels. The airmen received no other treatment besides medical monitoring. Repeat neuropsychologic testing confirmed the improvement. We conclude that the improvement in symptoms and ANAM performance is most likely attributable to HBO treatment.
Brain Damage
Normobaric hyperoxia therapy for traumatic brain injury and stroke: a review.
Abstract: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and acute ischaemic stroke are major causes of mortality and morbidity and there is an urgent demand for new neuroprotective strategies following the translational failure of neuroprotective drug trials. Oxygen...
A prospective, randomized clinical trial to compare the effect of hyperbaric to normobaric hyperoxia on cerebral metabolism, intracranial pressure, and oxygen toxicity in severe traumatic brain injury.
Abstract: Oxygen delivered in supraphysiological amounts is currently under investigation as a therapy for severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Hyperoxia can be delivered to the brain under normobaric as well as hyperbaric conditions. In this study the authors...
Low pressure hyperbaric oxygen therapy and SPECT brain imaging in the treatment of blast-induced chronic traumatic brain injury (post-concussion syndrome) and post traumatic stress disorder: a case report.
Abstract: A 25-year-old male military veteran presented with diagnoses of post concussion syndrome and post traumatic stress disorder three years after loss of consciousness from an explosion in combat. The patient underwent single photon emission computed tomography...
Hyperbaric oxygen preconditioning protects against traumatic brain injury at high altitude.
Abstract: Recent studies have shown that preconditioning with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) can reduce ischemic and hemorrhagic brain injury. We investigated effects of HBO preconditioning on traumatic brain injury (TBI) at high altitude and examined the role of matrix...
Hyperbaric oxygen in neurosurgery.
Abstract: The therapeutic use of pure oxygen, even under hyperbaric conditions, has been well established for about 50 years, whereas the discovery of oxygen occurred 250 years earlier. Many neurosurgical patients suffer from brain tissue damage, due to reduced blood...
Effect of hyperbaric oxygen on patients with traumatic brain injury.
Abstract: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is the medical therapeutic use of oxygen at a higher atmospheric pressure. The United States Food and Drug Administration have approved several clinical applications for HBOT, but HBOT in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients...
Neurotrauma research in Taiwan.
Abstract: Because of the rapid industrial and economic growth, Taiwan and other developing countries have faced an enormous increase in the number of motorcycles, which has subsequently caused a rapid increase of the motorcycle-related traumatic brain injuries (TBI)....
The effect of oxygenation level on cerebral post-traumatic apoptotsis is modulated by the 18-kDa translocator protein (also known as peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor) in a rat model of cortical contusion.
Abstract: Hyperbaric hyperoxia has been shown to reduce apoptosis in brain injury. As the 18-kDa translocator protein (TSPO), also known as peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor, is closely associated with the mitochondrial transition pore and because of its role in...
Hyperbaric oxygen in traumatic brain injury.
Abstract: This critical literature review examines historical and current investigations on the efficacy and mechanisms of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatment in traumatic brain injury (TBI). Potential safety risks and oxygen toxicity, as well as HBO's future potential,...