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(RCT). 38,39,45 The most recent studies failed to give a summary of the ages of
participants, 38,39 while half of the studies 41-44 did not report sex ratios.
Note that the studies of Niezgoda et al. 39 and Hammarlund et al. 40 formed a distinct subset.
They were different from the other studies included because they examined the effect
of HBOT on burns that were created experimentally, rather than clinically identified
burns.
Study quality
All RCTs failed to provide enough detail to assess the adequacy of randomisation
(Table 13). There were three studies39,41,45 that reported masking procedures; two were
RCTs and both were double masked. Seven of the eight collected studies reported
complete follow-up of participants. 38-44
Table 13 Methodological quality of included studies focusing on the use of HBOT in thermal burns.*
First Author and
Year of Publication
Study Design Randomisation Masking Losses to Follow-up
Brannen 1997 38 RCT Unclear Unclear No losses
Niezgoda 1997 39 RCT Unclear Double masked No losses
Hammarlund
1991 40
Comparative study
None None No losses
Cianci 1990 41 Comparative study None Single masked No losses
Gorman 1988 42
Comparative study
with historical
controls
None Unclear No losses
Niu 1987 43 Comparative study None Unclear No losses
Waisbren 1982 44 Comparative study None Unclear No losses
Hart 1974 45 RCT Unclear Double masked Unclear
* Abbreviation: RCT = randomised controlled trial.
Patient criteria
Table 14 compares the various patient criteria used for enrolment into the identified
studies. There were wide variations in the criteria used. Two studies39,40 recruited healthy
volunteers in an experimental setting, two studies42,45 explicitly specified the extent of
burn injury (from 10 to 75 percent total body surface area burned), and another two
studies38,45 only included patients admitted within 24 hours of injury. Three studies41,43,44 failed to describe the criteria used for enrolment.
20 Hyperbaric oxygen therapy