Researchers led by Shai Efrati of Tel Aviv University conducted small clinical trials that demonstrated that hyperbaric oxygen therapy can significantly reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in combat veterans. Fifty-six veterans with a diagnosis of PTSD participated in the double-blind, randomized, controlled trials of HBOT. Half of the subjects underwent 90-minute hyperbaric oxygen therapy five days a week (60 sessions total) at 100 percent oxygen (with five-minute breaks for normal air every 20 minutes) and a pressure of 2 atmospheres. The other half remained in an oxygenator at a standard oxygen concentration and pressure (increased to 1.2 atmospheres during the first five minutes of the session). The results were published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
It was found that with the active intervention, the severity of PTSD symptoms according to the CAPS-5 scale decreased on average from 42.57 ± 9.29 at baseline to 25.8 ± 9.5 at the end of treatment (p < 0.001) and 25.08 ± 13.08 (p < 0.001) at the follow-up examination after 1–4 weeks. At the same time, with placebo procedures, this indicator increased from 45.11 ± 8.99 to 47.75 ± 11.27 (p = 0.069) and 49.22 ± 10.26 (p = 0.011), respectively. Also in the main group, a significant reduction in the manifestations of depression on two scales and an improvement in the functional connectivity of the networks of the passive mode of brain function, executive control and determination of significance were observed according to functional MRI of the brain.
