A case of cerebral hemorrhage successfully treated with hyperbaric oxygen combined with rehabilitation training

  The patient, female, 74 years old, was admitted to our department with sudden onset of right-sided limb weakness with aphasia for 1 month.  After 10 sessions of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, the patient’s speech function recovered significantly, and she was able to stand independently after 1 month, walk a short distance in the house after 2 months, and walk independently outdoors after 3 months.  Discussion: Cerebral hemorrhage is the most serious subtype of stroke with high mortality and disability rate. China is one of the countries with high prevalence of cerebral hemorrhage. Compared with hemiplegic patients with cerebral infarction, hemiplegic patients with cerebral hemorrhage are often combined with higher cognitive impairment such as aphasia, which makes rehabilitation training difficult, so the prognosis of patients with cerebral hemorrhage is often poor. Rehabilitation training for higher cognitive functions has always been a challenge and the results are poor. Hyperbaric oxygen can repair damaged brain tissues by increasing the partial pressure of oxygen in brain tissues. In addition, hyperbaric oxygen has various effects such as reducing cerebral edema, increasing collateral circulation, and improving intracellular mitochondrial function, so hyperbaric oxygen has been the main treatment method for cerebral hemorrhage. The patient had mixed aphasia at the time of admission and could barely understand other people’s speech and could barely pronounce speech. After hyperbaric oxygen treatment, the hearing and understanding function was basically restored and the patient could basically communicate verbally at the time of discharge. The recovery of speech function laid a good foundation for limb rehabilitation training. The patient was an elderly woman, so we had to pay attention to the recurrence of the disease and muscle and joint injuries while rehabilitating, so we conducted regular rehabilitation assessment and revised the treatment plan at any time.