On July 9th, we were asked to participate in gathering information for a white paper response on the effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment on patients with mental disorders, specifically depression, suicide ideation or suicide attempt. Specific interest was expressed in searching for published researched where the patient had died by suicide or attempted suicide after the treatment.
The following information was gathered from the MSRC online digital library and sources such as Pubmed and Google Scholar and shared with the Denver staff:
Bennett, M.H., Trytko, B., Jonker (2012). “Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for the adjunctive treatment of traumatic brain injury.” Cochrane Databae System Review.
Harch, P.G. et al. (2011). “A phase I study of low-pressure Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for blast-induced post-concussion syndrome.” Journal of Neurotrauma 29:168-185 (January).
Veterans Administration Technology Assessment Program. (2010). “Bibliography Update: Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.” (January).
Cifu, D.X. Controversies in the use of HBO2. PowerPoint presentation at the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Conference (No Date). Retrieved on July 9, 2013 from http://medicine.utah.edu/pmr/conference/presentations/thurs/D.Cifu-Useof HBO2for mTBI-Thurs-Track2.pdf
A majority of the existing literature focused on the use of HBOT2 as treatment for patients that attempted suicide through exposure to carbon monoxide; outside the scope of the query. Due to the lack of scientific data on suicide-related outcomes of HBOT2, Dr. Thomas Joiner personally responded to the query.
Evaluation: I requested for feedback from Core B Denver on our participation in order to see if the collaborative process could be improved. I was informed that the work we had performed was satisfactory. However, at the current time two members of Core B Denver have been the main resources for white paper production and to add a third member would slow down the process. I reiterated that Core B Florida would gladly continue to collaborate on white paper requests when the need arose and upon request.