The Journal of head trauma rehabilitation
-
J Head Trauma Rehabil · May 2017
ReviewIs Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Effective for Traumatic Brain Injury? A Rapid Evidence Assessment of the Literature and Recommendations for the Field.
This systematic review examines the efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) for traumatic brain injury (TBI) to make evidence-based recommendations for its application and future research. ⋯ For mild TBI, results indicate HBO2 is no better than sham treatment. Improvements within both HBO2 and sham groups cannot be ignored. For acute treatment of moderate-to-severe TBI, although methodology appears flawed across some studies, because of the complexity of brain injury, HBO2 may be beneficial as a relatively safe adjunctive therapy if feasible. Further research should be considered to resolve the controversy surrounding this field, but only if methodological flaws are avoided and bias minimized.
-
J Head Trauma Rehabil · May 2017
Symptom Trajectories After Military Blast Exposure and the Influence of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.
Blast-related mild traumatic brain injury (blast mTBI) is a signature wound of recent US military conflicts in the Middle East, but the relatedness of postconcussive symptoms (PCS) to the blast mTBI is unclear, and longitudinal symptom data are sparse. ⋯ History of blast mTBI accompanied by posttraumatic amnesia is associated with greater nonspecific symptoms after deployment, and prognosis for improvement when symptoms are prominent is poor.