Veterans Special Report

News & Research

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy has been used for the better part of two centuries. Search our  arhives below for past HBOT news and research or scroll down for the latest.

The Latest HBOT News & Research

Clinical Trial – Fixed Dose Spinal Bupivacaine for Cesarean Delivery

Jul 24, 2017 | , ,

The study is designed to compare the effectiveness of spinal anesthesia performed with fixed
dose of hyperbaric bupivacaine regardless of patient’s height and weight and anesthesia with
the dose of bupivacaine that is adjusted to their height. Our clinical experience shows that
spinal anesthesia using specific, relatively high dose of hyperbaric bupivacaine combined
with opioid is very effective, regardless of parturient’s weight and height, provides very
good surgical conditions and assures patient’s comfort while the rate of anesthesia – related
complications is similar or less. Therefore, using height-adjusted protocols, although
preferred in some centres, might not be necessary in order to provide good anaesthesia for
cesarean delivery. Fixed dose regimen may have some additional advantages in obstetric
anesthesia settings, as many of cesareans are performed out of hours, giving less room for
mistakes in less experienced hands.

Two groups of parturients undergoing cesarean section are to be compared: anesthetized with
fixed-dose regimen (intervention group) and anesthetized with height-adjusted dose regimen
(control group). Patients are going to be randomized to one of the above groups, two
anesthetists will be involved in anesthetic procedure: anesthetist that looks after the
patient throughout the procedure will be blinded to the dose of anesthetic given
intrathecally. Therefore his judgment of anesthetic effectiveness is not going to be biased
and all patients will receive the same perioperative care in terms of fluid therapy,
management of possible anesthesia – related complications and postoperative pain control.

Rate of effective spinal anesthetics, defined as adequate block level and no need for
additional intraoperative analgesia has been established as primary outcome measure.
Secondary outcome measures are rate of complications and amount of opioids used
postoperatively. These are going to be statistically compared.

Effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on depression and anxiety in the patients with incomplete spinal cord injury (a STROBE-compliant article).

Jul 21, 2017 | ,

Little research has been done on the effects of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) on depression and anxiety after spinal cord injury (SCI). The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of HBO on psychological problems and never function, especially on depression and anxiety in the patients with incomplete SCI (ISCI).Sixty patients with ISCI combined with depression and anxiety were randomly divided into HBO group (20 cases), psychotherapy group (20 cases), and conventional rehabilitation control group (20 cases). All patients received routine rehabilitation therapy. However, in HBO group and psychotherapy group, patients also received HBO and psychotherapy, respectively. These therapies lasted for a total of 8 weeks (once a day and 6 days per week). Before and after 8 weeks of treatment, depression and anxiety, nerve function, and activities of daily living were, respectively, evaluated according to Hamilton Depression (HAMD) scale, Hamilton Anxiety (HAMA) scale, American Spinal Injury Association score, and functional independence measure score in all patients.After 8 weeks of treatment, HAMD score was significantly lower in both HBO group and psychotherapy group than in control group (all P < .05), but there was no statistical difference in HAMD score between HBO group and psychotherapy group (P > .05). HAMA score was significantly lower in HBO group than in control group (P < .05), but there was no statistical difference in HAMA score between HBO group and psychotherapy group, and between psychotherapy group and control group (all P > .05). After 8 weeks of treatment, American Spinal Injury Association and functional independence measure scores were significantly higher in HBO group than in both psychological and control groups, and also higher in psychotherapy group than in control group (all P < .05).The effects of HBO on depression and anxiety are similar to that of psychotherapy. HBO can significantly improve nerve function and activities of daily living in the patients with ISCI, which either psychotherapy or routine rehabilitation therapy can not substitute.

Clinical Trial – The Effects of Spinal Anesthesia on ED50 and BIS50 of Etomidate for the Loss of Consciousness

Jul 21, 2017 | , , ,

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of spinal anesthesia on ED50 and BIS50
of etomidate for the loss of consciousness (LOC) by using up-and-down method.The hypothesis
was that spinal anesthesia could significantly reduce the etomidate bolus dose for the LOC
and could also achieve hemodynamic stability during anesthesia induction.