"Out of the box" new therapeutic strategies for Crohn´s disease: moving beyond biologics

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for perianal Crohn's disease

I read with great interest the letter by Calderón et al., who clearly described effectiveness of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for refractory ischemic ulcer at the ileorectal anastomosis in Crohn's disease (CD). I congratulate them on their efforts in achieving a favorable long-term outcome. I would like to share my experience of HBOT for perianal CD (PCD). In addition, I discuss recent trials of HBOT for PCD.

Treatment with hyperbaric oxygen in a Crohn`s disease patient

Despite advances in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, particularly with biological therapies and new small molecules, a significant gap still exists in achieving persistent remission from a symptomatic, biomarker, and endoscopic perspective. In this context, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is considered as a therapeutic strategy. This approach has also been suggested for managing ischemic ulcers located at anastomotic sites. In this clinical case, we describe the clinical and endoscopic evolution of a challenging-to-manage Crohn's disease (CD) patient with an ischemic ulcer at the ileo-rectal anastomosis who underwent HBOT.