Abstract
Background: COVID-19 disease continues to be a major health concern despite numerous preventive measures and treatment availability. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been used in cases of severe anemia, air embolism, decompression sickness, and carbon monoxide poisoning. In COVID-19, the use of HBOT has been considered as it showed favorable results in restoring normal oxyhemoglobin and tissue oxygenation in severe hypoxemia and tissue hypoxia. It has also exhibited anti-inflammatory effects on inflammasomes, proinflammatory and inflammatory cytokines, and chemokines. With the given physiologic benefits of HBOT, this study aims to identify the effect of HBOT among severe COVID-19 patients.
Methods: Several trials using HBOT among COVID-19 patients were analyzed in this meta-analysis. The treatment group utilized HBOT while standard of care was used in the control group. The primary outcome is the incidence of in-patient mortality. The secondary outcome is the incidence of progression to invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV).
Results and Conclusions: 3 trials were included in this study. The incidence of mortality was 12% in the HBOT group and 26% in the standard of care group (P = 0.02). Progression to IMV was also lower in the HBOT with 13% compared to the control group with 46% (P = 0.003). HBOT for viral infections has been documented even before the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, the use of HBOT among severe COVID-19 patients have shown favorable results. HBOT is a promising alternative or additional treatment for COVID-19. Larger trials are needed to better demonstrate the benefit of HBOT.
Footnotes
Cite this article as ERJ Open Research 2022; 8: Suppl. 8, 146.
This article was presented at the 2022 ERS Lung Science Conference, in session “Poster Session 2”.
This is an ERS Lung Science Conference abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).
- Copyright ©the authors 2022