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Hyperbaric
oxygen therapy (HBOT) reduces pain scores and improves pain-linked symptoms and
quality of life in people having chronic neuropathic pain.
A study
published in Pain Research and Management illustrated the positive
effects of HBOT in improving outcomes like quality of life, pain scores, and
pain-associated symptoms. This study aimed to summarize the current evidence
for the mechanistic rationale of HBOT and to explore its efficacy in
neuropathic pain.
Databases
such as Embase, Medline, Scopus, PsycINFO, Cochrane, Web of Science,
ClinicalTrials. gov, WHO ICTRP, and ProQuest Digital Dissertation were explored
in this evidence-based narrative review. The study incorporated articles
published in English that involved studies exploring any HBOT-associated
intervention in neuropathic pain conditions (acute or chronic).
Overall, 2971
citations were detected through database searching, and 29 studies were
incorporated in this study. The mechanisms of action for using HBOT to
alleviate neuropathic pain include resolution of edema and hyperoxia (primary
effect), and also secondary effects concerning the decrease of inflammatory
mediators, production of nitrogen and oxygen reactive species (serving as pain
signaling molecules), and nitric oxide-dependent release of opioid peptides.
Strong evidence for the utilization of HBOT in medical practice was found to be linked with chronic primary bladder pain syndrome and chronic regional pain syndrome. Few evidences favored its usage for chronic secondary (peripheral) neuropathic pain incorporating radiation-induced plexus neuropathies, trigeminal neuralgia, and post-herpetic neuralgia.
Studies indicated that HBOT
leads to improvement in pain scores, quality of life, and pain-linked
symptoms. However, a systematic
methodology of HBOT application is imperative to substantiate its efficacy and
safety, concluded the study authors.
Pain Research and Management
Mechanistic Rationale and Clinical Efficacy of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Chronic Neuropathic Pain: An Evidence-Based Narrative Review
Simone Schiavo et al.
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