Clinical Trial – Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Adult Onset Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the long term effect of severely distressing
traumatic event characterized by intrusive thoughts, nightmares, and avoidance. Brain imaging
of PTSD patients demonstrate alterations in regional brain perfusion, with stunned,
hypoperfused regions. Those brain-biological pathologies may be responsible for the limited
success rate of currently available interventions.
During the last years data regarding Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) induced neuroplasticity
accumulated. A number of studies in traumatic brain injury, cerebrovascular attacks, and
fibromyalgia have presented evidence of improved perfusion and recovery of metabolic brain
tissues, accompanied by clinical improvement under HBOT even years after the acute insults.
Considerable evidence supports potential benefit of HBOT on PTSD, however, no clinical trial
was done on this pure PTSD population. The aim of the proposed study is to examine hyperbaric
oxygen therapy as a treatment for PTSD. Advanced brain imaging and functional analysis tools
will be used to evaluate treatment’s effect.
Case control study: hyperbaric oxygen treatment of mild traumatic brain injury persistent post-concussion syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) persistent post-concussion syndrome (PPCS) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are epidemic in United States Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans. Treatment of the combined diagnoses is limited. The aim of this study is to assess safety, feasibility, and effectiveness of hyperbaric oxygen treatments (HBOT) for mild TBI PPCS and PTSD. Thirty military subjects aged 18-65 with PPCS with or without PTSD and from one or more blast-induced mild-moderate traumatic brain injuries that were a minimum of 1 year old and occurred after 9/11/2001 were studied. The measures included symptom lists, physical exam, neuropsychological and psychological testing on 29 subjects (1 dropout) and SPECT brain imaging pre and post HBOT.