Hyperbaric oxygen therapy in acute stroke: is it time for Justitia to open her eyes?
Milija D MijajlovicVuk AleksicNenad MilosevicNatan M BornsteinPublished in: Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology (2020)
Hypoxia is a critical component of neuronal death in patients with stroke. Therefore increasing oxygenation of brain tissue seems to be a logical therapy against cerebral ischemia. Oxygen therapy exists in two modalities: normobaric hyperoxia therapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO). HBO is a therapeutic procedure in which pure (100%) oxygen is administered at greater than atmospheric pressure in HBO therapy chambers. In this review article, we aimed to summarize the current knowledge regarding the therapeutic use of HBO in acute stroke patients. Literature review and electronic search were performed using PubMed, Medscape, and UpToDate with the keywords stroke, acute stroke, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and hyperoxia. According to the reviewed literature, the use of HBO as routine stroke therapy cannot be justified in acute stage of stroke. More randomized, controlled studies are needed regarding safety and especially effectives of HBO in stroke patients. Also, standardized definitionof HBO should be proposed and used in all future studies.
Keyphrases
- cerebral ischemia
- atrial fibrillation
- systematic review
- clinical trial
- healthcare
- stem cells
- randomized controlled trial
- subarachnoid hemorrhage
- intensive care unit
- blood brain barrier
- liver failure
- open label
- brain injury
- endothelial cells
- blood flow
- current status
- clinical practice
- resting state
- study protocol
- air pollution
- cell therapy
- aortic dissection