HIV Management: Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBO) (abstract)

by Wibert Jordan, M.D

   HIV MANAGEMENT: HYPERBARIC OXYGEN (HBO)

     The purpose of the SEARCH Alliance-funded study was  to  evaluate

     the  efficacy of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in treating peripheral

     neuropathy ("pins and  needles"  numbness  of  the hands and feet

     caused by nerve damage due to HIV and  compounded  by  toxicity's

     caused by AZT, ddI and ddC).

     In  Hyperbaric  Oxygen  (HBO)  Therapy,  the patient breathes 100

     percent oxygen continually  or  intermittently while the pressure

     of the treatment chambers is increased to a point higher than sea

     level pressure. It  is  commonly  used  to  treat  burns,  carbon

     monoxide poisoning and certain breathing disorders.

     Status:

     Although  the  test  designed  to measure proper nerve conduction

     (electro micrograph)  did  not  prove  objective  benefit of this

     therapy,  seven  of   the   ten   trial   participants   reported

     subjectively  that  the  numbness  and  lethargy  associated  with

     peripheral neuropathy had diminished.

     Earlier  studies of HBO, performed at the University of Maryland,

     showed that HBO was effective  in the prevention of opportunistic

     infections (OI's) in patients with extremely low immune function.

     While both the SEARCH study and the University of Maryland  study

     demonstrated  the  efficacy of HBO for certain HIV complications,

     the  extremely  high  cost  and  inconvenience  of  HBO  chambers

     probably do not make it  a  viable therapy for a large population

     of people with HIV disease.

     Copyright (c) 1994 - SEARCH Alliance. Noncommercial  reproduction

     encouraged. from "SEARCHLIGHT: Quarterly News