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Hyperbaric oxygen treatment for inflammatory bowel disease: a systematic review

Results
Thirteen studies of HBOT in Crohn's disease and 6 studies in ulcerative colitis were identified. In all studies, participants had severe disease refractory to standard medical treatments, including corticosteroids, immunomodulators and anti-inflammatory medications. In patients with Crohn's disease, 31/40 (78%) had clinical improvements with HBOT, while all 39 patients with ulcerative colitis improved. One study in Crohn's disease reported a significant decrease in proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-alpha) and one study in ulcerative colitis reported a decrease in IL-6 with HBOT. Adverse events were minimal. Twelve publications reported using HBOT in animal models of experimentally-induced IBD, including several studies reporting decreased markers of inflammation or immune dysregulation, including TNF-alpha (3 studies), IL-1beta (2 studies), neopterin (1 study) and myeloperoxidase activity (5 studies). HBOT also decreased oxidative stress markers including malondialdehyde (3 studies) and plasma carbonyl content (2 studies), except for one study that reported increased plasma carbonyl content. Several studies reported HBOT lowered nitric oxide (3 studies) and nitric oxide synthase (3 studies) and one study reported a decrease in prostaglandin E2 levels. Four animal studies reported decreased edema or colonic tissue weight with HBOT, and 8 studies reported microscopic improvements on histopathological examination. Although most publications reported improvements with HBOT, some studies suffered from limitations, including possible publication and referral biases, the lack of a control group, the retrospective nature and a small number of participants.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3328239/
 
Saw a new doctor who suggested this as a way to help heal wounds associated with a fistula removal surgery, would you happen to have any info on HBOT in relation to fistulas?
 

Scipio

Well-known member
Location
San Diego
Looks like much of the current research is focused on fistualizing disease and other tough-to-treat Crohn's, which I guess is not surprising since HBOT has traditionally been used to promote wound healing.

The Effectiveness and Safety of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Various Phenotypes of Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Systematic Review With Meta-analysis - PubMed (nih.gov)


 
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