RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for the treatment of long COVID: early evaluation of a highly promising intervention
JF Clinical Medicine
JO Clin Med
FD Royal College of Physicians
SP e629
OP e632
DO 10.7861/clinmed.2021-0462
VO 21
IS 6
A1 Tim Robbins
A1 Michael Gonevski
A1 Cain Clark
A1 Sudhanshu Baitule
A1 Kavi Sharma
A1 Angel Magar
A1 Kiran Patel
A1 Sailesh Sankar
A1 Ioannis Kyrou
A1 Asad Ali
A1 Harpal S Randeva
YR 2021
UL http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/21/6/e629.abstract
AB Background Long COVID is a common occurrence following COVID-19 infection. The most common symptom reported is fatigue. Limited interventional treatment options exist. We report the first evaluation of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for long COVID treatment.Methods A total of 10 consecutive patients received 10 sessions of HBOT to 2.4 atmospheres over 12 days. Each treatment session lasted 105 minutes, consisting of three 30-minute exposures to 100% oxygen, interspersed with 5-minute air breaks. Validated fatigue and cognitive scoring assessments were performed at day 1 and 10. Statistical analysis was with Wilcoxon signed-rank testing reported alongside effect sizes.Results HBOT yielded a statistically significant improvement in the Chalder fatigue scale (p=0.0059; d=1.75 (very large)), global cognition (p=0.0137; d=–1.07 (large)), executive function (p=0.0039; d=–1.06 (large)), attention (p=0.0020; d=–1.2 (very large)), information processing (p=0.0059; d=–1.25 (very large)) and verbal function (p=0.0098; d=–0.92 (large)).Conclusion Long COVID-related fatigue can be debilitating, and may affect young people who were previously in economic employment. The results presented here suggest potential benefits of HBOT, with statistically significant results following 10 sessions.