Hyperbaric therapy uses pressure to increase the body’s oxygen supply and promote healing.
What’s old is new again, at least when it comes to treating persistent post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Veterans.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) — first used in the 1930s to treat decompression sickness in deep sea divers — is now being offered through VA to a small number of Veterans diagnosed with PTSD. It’s the latest effort from VA’s Center for Compassionate Innovation (CCI) to promote promising treatments for chronic health conditions that may resist traditional therapy.
Providers from the Eastern Oklahoma VA Health Care System and VA Northern California Health Care System will oversee this care. They will work with HBOT providers at the Tulsa Wound Care & Hyperbaric Clinic at Oklahoma State Medical Center and the David Grant Medical Center on Travis Air Force Base in California.
Use of HBOT for PTSD is conducted under a physician’s guidance and is off-label, meaning the Food and Drug Administration has not officially approved the therapy for PTSD. However, health care providers may prescribe it when they believe it is medically appropriate for a patient. Existing research suggests some patients experience improvement in traumatic stress symptoms following HBOT.
CCI brought the VA and community facilities together to extend the use of HBOT to a subset of Veterans whose PTSD symptoms persist after receiving at least two evidenced-based treatments. VA will closely monitor the use of HBOT to determine if it’s feasible to offer this approach through the
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