Update: Hyperbaric Oxygen for Intracranial Abscess (Brain and Skull Infections)

Today we have updated and upgraded our Intracranial Abscess (Brain and Skull Infections) page. Infections of the brain and skull may be caused by any number of different bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, protozoa, and other microbial organisms. Children with congenital heart disease and people with compromised immune systems due to chronic disease, cancer therapy, HIV, AIDS, and immunosuppressive drugs after organ transplantation face higher risk.

From our new commentary:

Brain abscesses are deadly serious but much less fatal (10%-30%) since the advent of computed tomography (CT) imaging devices, CT-guided surgical techniques (needle aspiration), and improved microbiology testing and antibiotic regimens.... The mechanisms at work here also greatly interest researchers investigating hyperbaric oxygen for traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Let our Further Reading suggestion stand as a cautionary tale. With a brain abscess, life and health depend on early diagnosis and proper treatment with computer-guided surgery and the right antibiotic regimen. Adding hyperbaric oxygen therapy may be especially prudent in the treatment of multiple abscesses in deep or dominant locations, in patients with immune compromise, and when the infection does not respond well to traditional surgery and antibiotics.

[Image: Amebic brain abscess, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]

Hyperbaric Food: Like Pasteurizing With Pressure

Who knew? The foodservice industry uses hyperbaric chambers to kill harmful bacteria, too. And apparently you can shuck a whole lot of shellfish with a whole lot of pressure. Make that 87,000 pounds per square inch, about 5,920 atmospheres. No added oxygen required.

Get a load of the fascinating history of high-pressure food processing, "Warning! Contents Under Extremely High Pressure," in GOOD. And who can resist the continuing adventures of Wholly Guacamole and the Big Mother Shucker? Not us.

Foodborne illness is no laughing matter. Neither are gas gangrene, intracranial abscess, necrotizing infections, osteomyelitis, diabetic foot ulcers, and other chronic wounds and bacterial infections treated with HBOT, where oxygen plays a central role. Lately we're reading like crazy to update our Diseases and Conditions pages for these indications. So please excuse us. But this slightly off-topic discovery was just too good not to share.

[Illustration: Avure Technologies]

O2.0 is the news blog of HyperbaricLink, the independent web guide to hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

TBI: Harch IHMA Study Expands

Here we go, against our better judgment, getting swooped up by another Harch media blitz—and bully for him for drumming up support and playing hardball in public relations and healthcare politics. Funded by the nonprofit foundation of the International Hyperbaric Medical Association, the trial will now include 1,000 volunteers, from the military and the general population, treated by 20 investigating physicians for mild to moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI) as well as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Read the full coverage at Digital Journal. We were especially moved by the story of retired brigadier general Patterson Mamey, pictured right, click here for video.

We're on record in favor of Medicare reimbursement for traumatic brain injury now. All our best to the investigators and patients in their pursuit of better healing and more meaningful, replicable study findings. Now let's all be quiet and do the science.

TBI Investigators: Observe That Observer Effect

In physics the very act of observering can sometimes spoil the whole experiment. Don't let's spoil some of the brightest promises of hyperbaric oxygen therapy with sneak peeks and leaks to the press. We're observers, too, and unapologetically enthusiastic about HBOT helping more combat veterans and others suffering from traumatic brain injury. Yet we wince whenever we see reports from any clinical trial still under way—in the case of this LSU study, only halfway done. Film at 11. Such publicity stunts certainly betray the investigators' bias and could cloud this entire field of research. We trust investigators in the Armed Services and elsewhere will observe the observer effect and heed another important lesson of history: Loose lips sink ships.

Off-Label HBOT: Stroke

We paused to read and reread and reflect before scoring the state of the evidence on HBOT for stroke. Let's err on the side of caution: promising. But, really, come on. What's not compelling about increasing blood flow deep in the brain to reduce the extent of tissue damage and speed healing, recovery, and rehabilitation? After all, the very same therapeutic mechanisms were good enough to get HBOT approved for intracranial abscess, not to mention acute traumatic ischemias and chronic wounds. (And stay tuned for traumatic brain injury.)

Jump to our new stroke page to learn more and to use our HyperbaricLink Evidence Index to guide your personal research.

HAIs: Fighting A Pandemic Already In Progress

Yesterday we doubted whether HBOT has any role in treating H1N1, the so-called swine flu, poised for a comeback this fall and winter. But we have no doubt hyperbaric oxygen is a powerful weapon against the baddest bugs our healthcare community is fighting right here right now. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Turns out most of these tiny culprits find life real hard in pure oxygen under high pressure. Researchers have shown us the proof in the petri dish. Clinicians have borne out the evidence in treating chronic wounds and several other approved conditions, including necrotizing infections, intracranial abscess, osteomyelitis, and gas gangrene, where HBOT helps control methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other troublesome bacteria.

There's plenty hospitals can do to prevent hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), sometimes also called healthcare-acquired or nosocomial infections. And there's plenty they're not doing. A recent CNN report sings the praises of some of this war's unsung heroes. Our question is, What's the best course of treatment when prevention fails and attacking bacteria outmatch our best antibiotics? We think you'll be seeing HBOT in the mix and in the news more and more.