Client getting hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment might help people being treated for opioid addiction decrease their methadone dose and better manage discomfort and withdrawal signs, according to a set of research studies led by Washington State University scientists.
The research group recruited participants enrolled in a regional opioid treatment program to check the effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, a treatment that involves breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized environment.
Published in the Journal of Addictions Nursing, the very first paper explains a pilot research study of 31 participants that showed that those who had gotten hyperbaric oxygen treatment as part of a planned methadone taper were able to keep a significantly bigger dose decrease of 4.3 mg 3 months after the study, as compared to 0.25 mg in participants who did not receive the treatment. They also reported half the level of withdrawal symptoms experienced by control participants after only one day of hyperbaric oxygen treatment..
” While methadone helps people with opioid dependency get stable and resume their typical lives, its still an opioid that they are taking every day,” stated research study co-author Matthew Layton, a professor in the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine and a previous opioid treatment program medical director. “About half of individuals in treatment wish to get off of methadone for various reasons, yet numerous who have actually tried have actually stopped working and relapsed. Our findings recommend that hyperbaric oxygen treatment might potentially be used as a non-pharmacological tool to help individuals step down their methadone treatment.”.
The 2nd study, which was released in Pain Management Nursing, was a little randomized regulated trial of eight individuals that looked more closely at withdrawal symptom relief. It found that individuals in the hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatment group reported lower pain strength and drug cravings than control individuals who had actually been provided an oxygen mixture comparable to space air delivered at normal climatic pressure. The researchers likewise saw enhancements in other outcomes, such as sleep quality and mood.
” While for some the difficulty is to leave methadone, others have a hard time to remain in treatment early on since discovering the right dose to stabilize symptoms can be tough to attain,” said very first author Marian Wilson, an associate professor in the WSU College of Nursing and an expert on discomfort management opioid use condition. “As a result, a lot of people experience withdrawal symptoms in that modification period that can be serious adequate to make them resume prohibited drug usage or drop out of treatment.”.
Based upon the cumulative findings from the 2 studies, the researchers are pursuing funding for a clinical trial to verify their findings in a bigger sample of participants, who would be followed for numerous years.
The idea for the 2 studies originated from earlier research study by among the WSU researchers that showed that hyperbaric oxygen therapy offered pain relief and minimized physical indications of opioid withdrawal in mice.
” We were nervous to see if it would operate in people,” stated research study co-author Raymond Quock, a teacher in the WSU College of Arts and Sciences, who led that work.
If their findings hold up in a larger scientific trial, hyperbaric oxygen treatment could become a non-pharmacological tool that companies can use to assist individuals manage discomfort and potentially minimize their opioid use.
” Last year, over 100,000 people died as a result of the opioid epidemic within the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Layton. “That shows us that opioid dependency is still a huge problem, and we require to have better ways to approach it.”.
Recommendation: “Hyperbaric Oxygen to Assist Adults With Opioid Use Disorder in Reducing Methadone Dose” by Wilson, Marian PhD, MPH, RN-BC; Odom-Maryon, Tamara PhD; Stanek, Karen PhD, MD; Roush, Trevor BS; Muriungi, Joseph AA; Jesse, Alvina AA; Quock, Raymond M. PhD and Layton, Matthew PhD, MD, January/March 2022, Journal of Addictions Nursing.DOI: 10.1097/ JAN. 0000000000000447.
In addition to Layton, Wilson, Quock and others at WSU, collaborators on these studies included Karen Stanek, the medical director for the Spokane Hyperbaric Center and Alvina Jesse, a program manager with the Spokane Regional Health District.
Financing for this work came from the State of Washingtons Initiative Measure No. 171, which was administered through the universitys Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Program.
” While methadone assists individuals with opioid dependency get stable and resume their normal lives, its still an opioid that they are taking every day,” stated study co-author Matthew Layton, a professor in the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine and a former opioid treatment program medical director. Our findings recommend that hyperbaric oxygen therapy might potentially be used as a non-pharmacological tool to assist people step down their methadone treatment.”.
The second research study, which was released in Pain Management Nursing, was a small randomized regulated trial of 8 individuals that looked more carefully at withdrawal sign relief. It discovered that individuals in the hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatment group reported lower discomfort strength and drug cravings than control individuals who had actually been given an oxygen mixture comparable to room air provided at regular atmospheric pressure.
