Abstract | Summary | Original Article

Randomized placebo-controlled trial of hyperbaric oxygenation therapy

Abstract displayed at the
8th Annual International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR)
Chicago, Illinois, May 7 to 9, 2009.

Granpeesheh D, Bradstreet, J, Tarbox J, Dixon, DR, Allen MS, Wilke AE

Question: Do symptoms of autism improve with use of Hyperbaric Oxygenation Therapy (HBOT)?

Background: Hyperbaric oxygenation therapy has received a lot of attention in the popular press, leading to its uptake as a treatment for autism, although it is very costly and has not been well studied.  Some reserchers have suggested that autism is associated with inflammation of the brain or oxidative stress, a chemical process in the body that can damage cells. Both could theoretically be targets of treatment by exposure to oxygen given under higher than usual pressure and concentrations.

Design: This was a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of HBOT.

Setting: Specialist clinics in the United States.

Participants: The participants were 46 children with ASD, aged between 24 months to 14 years. Twenty-six per cent of the participants withdrew from the study before it ended.

Intervention: Hyperbaric oxygenation therapy, a treatment that uses exposure to oxygen under higher than usual pressures and levels.  It is used at higher levels and pressures to treat the “bends” in divers or for pressure sores that won’t heal.  In this study, the participants were required to complete 80 one-hour sessions.

Main Outcome Measures: Multiple measures were used to detect and show changes in symptoms of autism such as communication, motor ability, daily living skills, and memory. Direct observations of the children’s behaviour, conducted twice a week, were videotaped and scored by trained observers who did not know if the children were in the active treatment or the placebo group.

Main Results: There was no significant improvement on any of the tests at the end of this intervention study.

Conclusions: The authors concluded that HBOT is not an effective treatment for ASDs. The authors also said that participants should be known to have inflammation or oxidative stress, before treatments are tried, instead of using treatments just to see if they work.