Dozens of brain-injured Camp Pendleton troops from the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan soon will climb inside a pressurized chamber
and breathe pure oxygen to see whether the treatment speeds their
recovery.
Up to 100 Marines will take part in the experiment, which will
measure whether the technique can ease the headaches, memory loss
and other ailments from the injury most often suffered in roadside
bomb attacks.
"Camp Pendleton's role is pivotal for us," U.S. Army Col.
Richard Ricciardi, at the Defense Centers of Excellence for
Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, said Friday. "Any
individual who has deployed and suffers from traumatic brain injury
might be eligible."
Troops with lingering effects from the injury are often assigned
to the base's Wounded Warrior Battalion, and most of those who
undergo the treatment will be drawn from its ranks.
The battalion's executive officer, Maj. Gary Zegley, said the
experiment is a welcome "exploration of any new treatment regimen
that could help wounded Marines."
During a telephone interview from his office at the Defense
Centers for Excellence in Virginia, Ricciardi said the trial study
was among several commissioned in recent months by the Pentagon as
the medical community works to improve brain injury care.
"It's one part of the arsenal of treatments being tested across
the system to tackle this challenging problem and do the right
thing for our warriors," he said.
A nurse practitioner, Ricciardi specializes in research and
program evaluation.
He was chief of nursing research at Walter Reed Army Medical
Center before joining the Defense Centers.
About 7,000 Camp Pendleton troops are serving in Afghanistan,
including about 4,500 Marines and sailors who left in the past
couple of weeks as part of the 30,000-troop surge ordered by
President Barack Obama.
Traumatic brain injury has emerged as a common injury among
troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, where anti-government forces rely
on homemade bombs as a primary weapon.
Improvements in protective gear and battlefield emergency
medicine have resulted in more troops surviving bomb blasts.
As a result, about 134,000 U.S. troops have been treated for
brain injuries since the 2003 start of the Iraq war, according to
Pentagon statistics.
A large chamber inside a trailer near Naval Hospital Camp
Pendleton is where the troops will undergo the hourlong procedure
for five days a week over 2 1/2 months.
Pressure inside the hyperbaric chamber will be equivalent to
what divers experience at about 20 feet under water.
The pressurization forces pure oxygen into the cells. The
experiment tests whether the repeated trips to the chamber speeds
healing, Ricciardi said.
Most of the troops will breathe pure oxygen, but a control group
will breathe normal air under near-similar pressure conditions to
test the results between the two sets, Ricciardi said.
Camp Pendleton's role is to help establish the precise treatment
regimen and baseline testing that troops will undergo.
After the trial period, researchers will evaluate the Marines'
experience and then refine the testing protocol when a larger test,
administered to more troops at Camp Pendleton and other bases
around the country, begins late this year or in early 2011.
When the larger test begins, troops will be flown with a buddy
to Fort Carson, Colo., where they will undergo a battery of tests
conducted over four days before returning to their home base for
the treatment.
When the treatment ends, the troops will be flown back to
Colorado for a final assessment.
The results of all the testing, which is expected to involve
about 300 U.S. troops, will be known by late 2012 or early 2013,
Ricciardi said.
Some clinical research shows the hyperbaric treatment has helped
people with brain injuries, but not enough to say so
conclusively.
"We certainly hope that it provides the benefits we're looking
for," Ricciardi said. "It's never been done the way we are going to
try it, and Camp Pendleton is helping make sure we have the testing
methodology down pat."
Call staff writer Mark Walker at 760-740-3529.
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