Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) describes where a patient spends time in a room (or chamber) with an oxygen concentration of 100%. In the air we breathe, the oxygen concentration is 21%. When someone breathes in 100% oxygen, there is an increase in the amount of oxygen in the blood compared with breathing the normal oxygen concentration in the air. This delivers more oxygen around the body, especially to those areas where oxygen concentrations have been low.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been shown to help treat those who have suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning, those who have certain types of wounds and for those who have decompression sickness following deep sea diving.

The use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in cerebral palsy is contentious. There are studies showing that hyperbaric oxygen therapy does not help those who have cerebral palsy. There are anecdotal reports of improvements in spasticity, cognition and memory but this has not been revealed in evidence-based studies.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is not without risks and can cause damage to the middle ear and injury to the lungs, as well as potentially more serious problems if used for more than 2 hours or at especially high pressures.

As indicated above, the studies about the benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy are mixed. The following published article about a randomized trial can be viewed here. There are further resources available on the CanChild website.