This article is part of the HBOT Radar series, where we summarize the latest published hyperbaric oxygen therapy research.
Disclaimer: This article is intended for educational and informational purposes only. It summarizes published medical research conducted in clinical settings and does not evaluate Brain Spa Hyperbaric products. The hyperbaric chambers offered on this website are non-medical wellness devices and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Do not make medical decisions based on this article — consult a qualified healthcare professional.
Title:
A three-patient case series from a neonatal intensive care unit, in an area where almost no published evidence exists
What this case series examined
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is well-known for treating carbon monoxide poisoning, decompression illness, wound healing, and severe infections.
But its use in newborn infants is extremely rare, and the medical literature is very limited.
This 2025 case series describes three newborns treated with HBOT for conditions where conventional treatment alone was not enough:
- Acute peripheral ischemia (loss of blood flow to a limb)
- Vascular compromise from thrombosis + compartment syndrome
- A non-healing surgical wound after omphalocele repair
These are severe, life- or limb-threatening conditions where tissue survival is uncertain.
HBOT protocols in these neonatal cases
The publication does not report pressures, session lengths or the number of sessions for any of the three infants. That means the treatment itself — the thing this article is about — is undocumented.
HBOT was used as an adjunct to standard care, not as a replacement.
Across the three cases, the treating teams reported:
- improved blood flow
- reduced swelling
- tissue salvage
- enhanced wound healing
All three infants were receiving full intensive care at the same time, so what hyperbaric oxygen contributed on its own cannot be separated out.
No severe adverse events were reported.
What improved in these newborns
1. Restoration of blood flow
In two babies with ischemia and thrombosis, HBOT supported oxygen delivery to starved tissues and helped prevent further necrosis.
2. Reduced swelling and inflammation
Compartment syndrome caused dangerous pressure buildup — HBOT helped reduce tissue injury.
3. Healing of a difficult surgical wound
The newborn with a non-healing post-surgical wound showed meaningful improvements after HBOT.
4. Overall stabilization
All three infants did better than their clinicians anticipated. With three patients and no comparison group, that is an observation rather than a result.
Why this matters
Why this one needs reading carefully. Three patients. No control group. No blinding. All three were in intensive care receiving everything else a neonatal unit provides, and the case reports cannot separate hyperbaric oxygen from the rest of that care. Case series exist to tell researchers that something is worth studying — not to tell anyone that it works. In neonatal medicine, where the patients are this fragile and the literature this thin, that distinction matters more than usual.
Newborns have extremely fragile physiology, and treatment options for conditions like ischemia and thrombosis are limited. Read against that background, this case series:
- describes tissue survival in three infants with compromised circulation
- raises the question of whether it affects amputation risk, which three cases cannot answer
- documents one non-healing surgical wound that closed
- reports no severe adverse events in three infants, which is too few to say anything about safety
The authors emphasize that HBOT should not replace standard care, but can provide critical support in situations where traditional treatments are insufficient.
Takeaway for the community
In this three-patient neonatal case series:
- hyperbaric oxygen was used as an adjunct in three life- or limb-threatening emergencies
- the treating teams reported improved blood flow and tissue survival
- no pressures, session lengths or session counts were reported
- no severe adverse events occurred, in a sample far too small to assess safety
The authors' own framing is that hyperbaric oxygen should not replace standard care. What these three cases establish is that the question is worth asking in neonatal intensive care — and that almost nobody has asked it yet.
HBOT Radar continues to follow emerging research, including the rare cases where published evidence is still almost entirely absent.
Study link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40986926/
Educational disclaimer
This content summarizes findings from published medical research for educational purposes only.
The hyperbaric chambers sold on this website are non-medical wellness devices and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
The studies discussed here were conducted in clinical medical settings using medical-grade interventions. The inclusion of research summaries does not imply that similar outcomes can be achieved using non-medical wellness devices.
