Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34862223›Full record

ArticleClinical medicine (London, England)2021

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for the treatment of long COVID: early evaluation of a highly promising intervention.

Tim Robbins, Michael Gonevski, Cain Clark, Sudhanshu Baitule, Kavi Sharma, Angel Magar, Kiran Patel, Sailesh Sankar, Ioannis Kyrou, Asad Ali and 1 more

Registry-linked trialOpen access · diamondAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical medicine (London, England), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06118138 (Observational Study of Hyperbaric High Pressure Oxygen Therapy), which is not on this map. Cited by 50 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
50citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
8.4field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT06118138 completednot on this mapstarted 2023, after this paper: background citation

Observational Study of Hyperbaric High Pressure Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) in Patients With Post-COVID Syndrome (PCS) and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)

TypeobservationalSponsorCharite University, Berlin, GermanyRan2023 to 2025Enrolled60ConditionsPost-COVID ME/CFSArmsHyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT)
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

50 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 88 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Intervention modalities for brain fog caused by long-COVID: systematic review of the literature.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024
    Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Guideline
  5. Trial
  6. Trial
  7. Trial
  8. Trial
  9. Trial
  10. Trial
  11. Observational
  12. Article
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Bridging Gaps in Long COVID Therapy: A Review.Current medicinal chemistry · 2026
    Review
  16. Review
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Tim RobbinsUniversity Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Coventry, UK, Warwick Medical School, Coventry, UK and Coventry University, Coventry, UK timothy.robbins@nhs.net.
Michael GonevskiMidlands Diving Chamber, Rugby, UK.
Cain ClarkUniversity Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Coventry, UK and Coventry University, Coventry, UK.
Sudhanshu BaituleUniversity Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Coventry, UK.
Kavi SharmaUniversity Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Coventry, UK.
Angel MagarUniversity Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Coventry, UK.
Kiran Pateldeputy chief executive officer and consultant cardiologist, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Coventry, UK and Warwick Medical School, Coventry, UK.
Sailesh SankarUniversity Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Coventry, UK and Warwick Medical School, Coventry, UK.
Ioannis KyrouUniversity Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Coventry, UK, Warwick Medical School, Coventry, UK and Coventry University, Coventry, UK.
Asad AliUniversity Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Coventry, UK and Warwick Medical School, Coventry, UK.
Harpal S RandevaUniversity Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Coventry, UK and Warwick Medical School, Coventry, UK.
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust · GBCoventry University · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLong COVID is a common occurrence following COVID-19 infection. The most common symptom reported is fatigue. Limited interventional treatment options exist. We report the first evaluation of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for long COVID treatment.

methodsA total of 10 consecutive patients received 10 sessions of HBOT to 2.4 atmospheres over 12 days. Each treatment session lasted 105 minutes, consisting of three 30-minute exposures to 100% oxygen, interspersed with 5-minute air breaks. Validated fatigue and cognitive scoring assessments were performed at day 1 and 10. Statistical analysis was with Wilcoxon signed-rank testing reported alongside effect sizes.

resultsHBOT yielded a statistically significant improvement in the Chalder fatigue scale (p=0.0059; d=1.75 (very large)), global cognition (p=0.0137; d=-1.07 (large)), executive function (p=0.0039; d=-1.06 (large)), attention (p=0.0020; d=-1.2 (very large)), information processing (p=0.0059; d=-1.25 (very large)) and verbal function (p=0.0098; d=-0.92 (large)).

conclusionLong COVID-related fatigue can be debilitating, and may affect young people who were previously in economic employment. The results presented here suggest potential benefits of HBOT, with statistically significant results following 10 sessions.

Indexed as

COVID-19Hyperbaric OxygenationAdolescentHumansOxygenPost-Acute COVID-19 SyndromeSARS-CoV-2Oxygenfatiguehyperbaric oxygen therapylong COVID

Identifiers

PMID34862223
PMCPMC8806311
OpenAlexW3215922138

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.