Hyperbaric oxygen improves nasal air flow

Abstract

Objective: We investigated whether hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) treatment is able to cause any changes in the nasal peak inspiratory flow (NPIF) values of patients submitted to this therapy.

Study design: NPIF was measured in a group of 13 patients who were submitted to at least 10 sessions of 75 minutes long HBO2 treatments over a period of 20 days. HBO2 was prescribed to the patients to treat hearing loss, diabetic ulcers or chronic inflammatory disease. Three timings were chosen to perform the NPIF measurements: during HBO2, five minutes before and five minutes after the treatment.

Methods: For NPIF evaluation, the highest inspiratory flow of three inspirations was recorded. To search for statistical differences between NPIF measurements at the three different timings of the HBO2 treatment, we have analysed the data using the repeated measures ANOVA test with the Epsilon lower bound correction for the F ratio.

Results: NPIF values were significantly higher when the patients were inside the HBO2 chamber when compared with NPIF measurements obtained in the same individuals five minutes before starting or five minutes after ending the treatment. A small but significant increase in NPIF values was detected in patients five minutes after stopping the HBO2 treatment, in comparison with values obtained five minutes before initiating the therapy. NPIF values remained stable along the 10 HBO2 sessions, i.e. with repetition of the HBO2 treatments, NPIF values were not further enhanced.

Conclusions: Exposure to HBO2 causes significant improvement in nasal air flow. This increase is restricted mostly to the period that the patients are inside the hyperbaric chamber. Further investigations are needed to determine the relative contributions of enhancement in air pressure and in oxygen concentration (that characterize HBO2) in the enhancement of nasal air flow. The herein finding may be helpful in future investigations on the treatment of nasal or sinus diseases.