Revisiting the Expanded Use of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Treatment of Resistant Migraines

There are currently 13 indications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. The European Consensus Conference on Hyperbaric Medicine has 28 indications approved for its use. However, neither includes the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for neurological conditions such as migraines with aura. Recent research has made the attempt to fully understand the use of hyperbaric therapy in treatment of neurological conditions, but results have so far been inconclusive. We report a 23-year-old female with an 11-year history of migraines with aura who has received inadequate pharmacological treatment for her migraines since she began having them. Migraines have led her to significant loss of function. The patient underwent treatment at 1.5 absolute atmospheres in a hyperbaric chamber Monday through Friday for 1 hour each day for a total of 40 sessions but reported missing a few sessions over the 8-week period. No more than 1 session during a given week was missed and the patient received no other treatments for her migraines throughout this time period. By her 24