Wu BQ, Liu DY, Shen TC, Lai YR, Yu TL, Hsu HL, Lee HM, Liao WC, Hsia TC, et al.
Life (Basel, Switzerland). Date of publication 2024 Mar 26;volume 14(4):.
1. Life (Basel). 2024 Mar 26;14(4):438. doi: 10.3390/life14040438.
Effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy on Long COVID: A Systematic Review.
Wu BQ(1), Liu DY(1)(2), Shen TC(2)(3)(4)(5), Lai YR(2), Yu TL(2), Hsu HL(1)(2),
Lee HM(1)(2), Liao WC(2)(3)(4), Hsia TC(2)(3)(4).
Author information:
(1)Department of Education, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 404,
Taiwan.
(2)School of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung 404, Taiwan.
(3)Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal
Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 404, Taiwan.
(4)Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Center, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung
404, Taiwan.
(5)Division of Critical Care Medicine, Chu Shang Show Chwan Hospital, Nantou
557, Taiwan.
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in an increasing
population that is experiencing a wide range of long-lasting symptoms after
recovery from the acute infection. Long COVID refers to this specific condition
and is associated with diverse symptoms, such as fatigue, myalgias, dyspnea,
headache, cognitive impairment, neurodegenerative symptoms, anxiety, depression,
and a sense of despair. The potential of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) to
improve chronic fatigue, cognitive impairments, and neurological disorders has
been established; therefore, the use of HBOT to treat long COVID has also been
studied. We conducted a literature search between 1 January 2019 and 30 October
2023, focusing on the clinical efficacy and utility of HBOT for treating long
COVID and found ten clinical studies that fit the review topic, including one
case report, five one-group pretest-posttest design studies, one safety report
from a randomized controlled trial (RCT), and three complete reports of RCTs.
Most studies found that HBOT can improve quality of life, fatigue, cognition,
neuropsychiatric symptoms, and cardiopulmonary function. Although HBOT has shown
some benefits for long COVID symptoms, further rigorous large-scale RCTs are
required to establish precise indications, protocols, and post-treatment
evaluations.
DOI: 10.3390/life14040438
PMCID: PMC11051078
PMID: 38672710
Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
