Prof. Shai Efrati Research on Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
In the largest published cohort of patients suffering from chronic deficits post-TBI of all severities, HBOT was associated with significant cognitive improvements. The clinical improvements were well correlated with increased activity in the relevant brain areas.
HBOT can induce neuroplasticity leading to repair of chronically impaired brain functions and improved quality of life in mTBI patients with prolonged PCS at late chronic stage.
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00715052.
HBOT subjects experienced significant improvements in Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory, Memory Index, Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics, Hamilton Depression Scale, Hamilton Anxiety Scale, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and Quality Of Life after Brain Injury compared to the Control Group.
The Control Group was then crossed over to HBOT. Subjects underwent symptom, neuropsychological, and psychological testing, before and after treatment or control with retesting 2 months after the 40th HBOT. Fifty subjects completed the protocol with primary outcome testing. After crossing over to HBOT the Control Group experienced near-identical significant improvements.
Further improvements were experienced by both groups during the 2-month follow-up period. These data indicate that 40 HBOTs at 150 kPa/60 minutes demonstrated statistically significant improvements in postconcussion and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms, memory, cognitive functions, depression, anxiety, sleep, and quality of life.
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24260334/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24260334/
