 |
[2008 updates are highlighted in red]
| Description: |
Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatment is a form of oxygen therapy in which a person breathes oxygen under increased pressure in a specially designed chamber. It is claimed that HBO is effective for MS and many other diseases. |
| Rationale: |
The oxygen content of the blood increases with the use of HBO. This results in an increased amount of oxygen in different body tissues. It is believed that the increased oxygen levels in the blood and tissues are therapeutic for a variety of medical conditions. |
| Evaluation: |
HBO is an accepted treatment for a limited number of specific medical conditions, including burns, severe infections, decompression sickness (due to deep-sea diving), radiation-induced tissue injury, and carbon monoxide poisoning. Unfortunately, there is no strong evidence to support the use of HBO in MS and many other diseases. There are no clear theoretical reasons as to why increased oxygen levels would be therapeutic in MS. The human clinical studies of HBO in MS can be confusing. This is because an early study of HBO in MS, reported in 1983, found that it was effective. This study was published in a prestigious medical journal, The New England Journal of Medicine. This single study is still sometimes provided as evidence for the effectiveness of HBO for MS. However, subsequent to the 1983 study, many clinical trials were conducted and generally found that HBO did not produce beneficial effects in people with MS. A mild improvement in bladder function was reported in a few studies. Large independent reviews of all of the published HBO and MS clinical trials were published in 1995 and 2004. Both reviews conclude that there is no consistent therapeutic effect of HBO in people with MS and that HBO should not be used to treat MS. In addition, the 2004 article, a Cochrane Database Review, concludes that, on the basis of existing evidence, further studies of HBO in MS are not justified. The research methods and the interpretation of the results of past HBO trials in MS have been criticised by some. |
| Risks: |
HBO is usually well tolerated. Reversible, mild visual symptoms may occur. Rarely, HBO may cause serious side-effects, including seizures, collapsed lungs, pressure injury to the ear, and cataracts. |
| Costs: |
HBO is expensive. |
| Committee opinion: |
In the opinion of the Committee, HBO is an expensive therapy with rare, but serious, side-effects that, on the basis of multiple clinical trials, does not produce any consistent therapeutic effects in people with MS. |
|
