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posted by martyb on Monday July 27 2020, @10:43AM   Printer-friendly
from the breathe-a-sigh-of-relief dept.

https://local12.com/news/investigates/new-treatment-promises-hope-during-pandemic-cincinnati-duane-pohlman-coronavirus-covid:

From Louisiana to Long Island, hyperbaric chambers, once used only to treat divers suffering from the bends, are increasingly being used to treat COVID-19 patients with surprising success.

While the numbers are small, doctors at more than a dozen hospitals across the country say hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is saving the lives of even the most critically ill coronavirus patients.

"The results thus far are pretty impressive," Dr. Thomas Serena, founder and director of the SerenaGroup, a family of wound, hyperbaric and research companies, said in a recent interview.

At NYU Winthrop Hospital in Mineola, New York, Dr. Scott Gorenstein, the director of hyperbaric medicine, said, "I'm encouraged that hyperbaric oxygen could be a benefit."

[...] Their study compared 20 COVID-19 patients who received HBOT to 60 similar patients who did not. While their study is being peer-reviewed and has yet to be published, the results they shared are stunning.

Of the 60 patients who did NOT receive HBOT, half of them needed to be placed on ventilators and 13 died. That's a mortality rate of 22%. At the same time, the 20 patients who did receive HBOT, only two needed to be placed on ventilators and both died, which is a much lower mortality rate of 10%.

"It's small numbers," Dr. Lee noted in a cautious tone but added, "The findings suggest that hyperbaric oxygen could reduce the mortality of this disease by half."


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 27 2020, @09:49PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 27 2020, @09:49PM (#1027327)

    Sorry, no, I can't link or quote.

    My knowledge is paraphrased from a talk+questions by a hyperbaric doctor who's following developments closely (he said then), although not a researcher himself. It is also a few months old by now. But the fact remains that hyperbaric chambers are back open for business, and that business is not covid19 (I visited one a short time ago). And it never was. I gather the Italians and Spanish would have used those chambers ... instead of letting people die from lack of ventilators ....

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 27 2020, @09:56PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 27 2020, @09:56PM (#1027333)

    Well, I don't think these results have been publicized at all then. Even in the news, so it is no surprise people have not heard about it. They should be encouraged to publish about their experience in some way, even if it is just a blog post somewhere.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 27 2020, @10:18PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 27 2020, @10:18PM (#1027345)

      Knowing the person giving the talk (no, I will absolutely not put the name in a public forum), he definitely had published sources on which he formed is publicly pronounced opinion.

      That you have not seen them may or may not constitute a statement about the absolute availability. It may also constitue a statement about your following of publications. Have you considered that the publications may be in other languages? I know for a fact that English, Spanish, German, and Polish are on the table for this one.

      And don't tell me that English is the one, true language. During a pandemic situation, a doctor surely could be forgiven to publish a quick notice only in his native tongue, instead of taking the time to do a reasonably good translation.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 27 2020, @10:47PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 27 2020, @10:47PM (#1027359)

        If you can find out I would be very interested to see these sources. I am sure the doctors involved in the OP study would like to see them as well. As you said, patients may be harmed due to lack of availability of these results so they should be widely shared and discussed.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 27 2020, @11:17PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 27 2020, @11:17PM (#1027378)

          I might give it a try, but please don't get your hopes up at all (many reasons, none fit for publication here).

          Using the words "Covid19", "hyperbaric" and "diving" (important!) should, hopefully, set the right triggers for an email inquiry to the Landeskrankenhaus Innsbruck (general hospital in Innsbruck, Austria) to reach the correct person there. Once you have him/her, ask away, no need for "diving" anymore.

          Sorry for the roundabout way, but this still is the internet ... :-(
          If you are a medical professional, this should work out. If you are "just interested", it still may, but no guarantees.

          Hope that helps.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 28 2020, @01:45AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 28 2020, @01:45AM (#1027458)

            If you give them 2 liters of oxygen,the oxygen saturation gets a little better, but a few hours later many of them are in the intensive care unit with intubation and severe lung failure. Many colleagues have the feeling that the oxygen triggers a cascade. None of us know exactly what's going on here. It often looks scary. But let's not forget about 80% of the patients who put it all away as if it were nothing.as if it were nothing.as if it were nothing.

            One of the triggers for this interim report is a contribution by one of the world's most recognized divers / diving medical experts and grandsons of the scene, who claims that you can cure Corona if you treat people with HBO / pressure chamber therapy. This proves how far away those colleagues from the front are brooding at their desks thousands of miles from the patient and want only the best for us.

            https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wetnotes.eu%2Ftauchen-nach-covid-19-erkrankung%2F [google.com]

            I'm guessing you are talking about this. That sounds like he is talking about a problem with getting supplementary oxygen and assuming hbot will be the same.

            I've been saying for awhile that the oxygen should be increased gradually, or else you get a form of reverse altitude sickness or reperfusion injury. If the tissue is already adapted to low oxygen you should not suddenly increase it, just like you should not quickly descend a mountain either. I think this is another common medical error that is harming covid patients.

            HBOT practitioners already know to gradually increase the pressure though, so I think this is less likely in that case. But by the time they see these patients the damage may have already been done simply via the oxygen mask.