Transcranial magnetic stimulation combined with hyperbaric oxygen therapy for patients with cerebral infarction : a preliminary study / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) combined with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy on the recovery of neurological functional after cerebral infarction,and to discuss its possible mechanism.Methods Forty-five patients with cerebral infarction were randomly divided into a control group,an rTMS group and an rTMS plus HBO group,each group with 15 patients.The patients in the two treatment groups received 1 Hz rTMS to inhibit the unaffected hemisphere and 3 Hz rTMS to stimulate the affected hemisphere.One of the treatment groups also received HBO therapy,14 daily sessions.The National Institutes of Health stroke scale (NIHSS) and the Barthel index (BI) were evaluated on the 1st,14th and 30th day of treatment.Results The neurological function scores of those in the rTMS group and the rTMS & HBO group improved significantly.On the 1st and 14th day,no significant difference in NIHSS or BI scores was observed among the three groups,but by the 30th day the average neurological functional score in the rTMS & HBO group had improved significantly compared with the control group.The rTMS plus HBO group showed significantly better improvement than the rTMS group in terms of BI scores,but no significant difference in average NIHSS and BI scores was observed between the rTMS group and the control group.Fifteen days after the treatments had finished,the follow up results showed the improvements of the patients in the rTMS plus HBO group were significantly better than those in the other groups.Conclusion For patients with cerebral infarction,rTMS combined with HBO therapy can improve neurological function more significantly than rTMS therapy alone.