Long-Term Effect of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy on Gait and Functional Balance Skills in Cerebral Palsy Children—A Randomized Clinical Trial

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the long-term effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on spatiotemporal gait parameters and functional balance in children with cerebral palsy. Thirty-nine children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy were randomly allocated to one of two groups: control or study. The children in both groups received traditional physical therapy three times per week for six months. In addition, the children in the study group received hyperbaric oxygen therapy five times/week for eight weeks. The GAITRite system and pediatric balance scale were used to assess spatiotemporal gait parameters and functional balance at baseline, post-intervention, and six months after the cessation of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Post-intervention means of all measured parameters were significantly higher than pre-intervention means, but only for the study group (p p p < 0.05). It can be concluded that adding hyperbaric oxygen therapy to physical therapy rehabilitation could be effective in improving spatiotemporal gait parameters and functional balance in children with cerebral palsy.

Keywords

• hyperbaric oxygen therapy
• gait parameters
• functional balance
• cerebral palsy