Combined therapy with hyperbaric oxygen and anti-platelet aggregation agent for the prevention of delayed encephalopathy after acute carbon monoxide poisoning

Objective Hyperbaric oxygen(HBO) has long been used to prevent delayed encephalopathy after acute carbon monoxide(CO) poisoning, but its efficacy remains inconsistent. In this study, a clinical observation was made to compare the effectiveness of HBO alone and of combined therapy with hyperbaric oxygen and anti platelet aggregation agent(anti plat). Methods The subjects included 401 patients with moderate to severe acute CO poisoning, which were randomly assigned into one of the two groups:HBO group( n =204) and HBO plus anti plat group( n =197) at the time of admission. Serial evaluations were made on the 15th,20th,25th,30th,45th,60th day after acute CO intoxication. Results Delayed encephalopathy was observed in 11.27 percent of patients in HBO group and in 3.55 percent of patients in HBO plus anti plat group. Conclusions Combined therapy with HBO and anti platelet aggregation agent is much more effective compared with the treatment by HBO alone for the prevention of delayed encephalopathy after acute carbon monoxide poisoning.