Journal de colonne vertébrale et de neurochirurgie

Hypobaric Hypoxic Adaptation in the Treatment of Neuropsychiatric Disorders in Children

Shalkevich L, Zhauniaronak I, Kudlach A, Stepaniuk A,Filipovich H, Horlikova O and Lun A

Abstract
The article presents an analytical review of the literature data on the impact of hypobaric hypoxia on the human body and the results of their own pilot studies of hypobaric hypoxic adaptation in children with neuropsychiatric diseases.

Purpose: to evaluate the effect of hypobaric hypoxic adaptation on emotional, speech disorders in children with various neurological pathologies due to perinatal damage of the central nervous system.

Materials and methods: The study involved 31 patients aged from 6 months to 16 years, the median age was 1.5 years. The spectrum of neurological disorders in patients: cerebral palsy (n=9), epilepsy (n=10), impaired psychomotor development (n=12). All children had a sleep disorder, increased emotional lability and impaired speech function. All the patients included in the study underwent a course of moderate hypobaric hypoxytherapy, which consisted of 15 sessions.

Results: The study found significant improvement in the quality of life (p<0.001) with normalization of sleep in 87.1% (n=27), improvement in emotional activity in 80.6% (n=25) (p<0.001), social activity in 64.5% (n=20) (p<0.05), cognitive activity in 58.1% (n=18) (p<0.001). Dynamic assessment of neurological status showed
positive changes in 19.4% (n=6) of patients, with decreased muscle tone and improved coordination in children with cerebral palsy (level 2-3 GMFCS). Among children under the age of 1.5 years with delayed psychomotor development due to perinatal damage of the central nervous system and prematurity, 66.6% (4 cases) noted the acquisition of new motor stages, and according to the results of their neurosonography with doppler sonography, all cases showed normalization of cerebral hemodynamic parameters.

Conclusion: Adaptation to hypoxia is a pathogenetically substantiated non-drug method for the prevention and treatment of diseases of the nervous system in children, allowing to activate the reserve capabilities of the body with insufficient effectiveness of drug therapy.