Effect of hydrogen intervention on refractory wounds after radiotherapy: A case report.
Zhao PX, Luo RL, Dang Z, Wang YB, Zhang XJ, Liu ZY, Wen XH, Liu MY, Zhang MZ, Adzavon YM, Ma XM. · 2022.
What kind of evidence is this?
Human
Single-patient case report
Skin, wound and aging research
Inhaled H₂
Indeterminate for molecular hydrogen.
Clinical wound-healing observation in one patient.
Methods at a glance
A 42-year-old woman with a chronic refractory shoulder wound after surgery and radiotherapy.
1 patient.
Six months.
Hydrogen inhalation for two hours/day with sterile dressings and repeated debridement.
Inhaled molecular H₂; composition was not reported in the abstract.
Hydrogen concentration and absolute flow were not fully reported in the accessible case description.
Not reported.
Oxygen co-delivery was not reported.
No control; prior failed treatments and subsequent clinical course.
Outcomes and reported result
Re-epithelialization and wound closure.
The wound closed during six months of hydrogen inhalation, dressings and debridement, but the contribution of hydrogen cannot be isolated.
The full article was checked for methods, intervention details, outcomes, positive and null findings, funding and conflicts. This record does not imply medical efficacy.
A reported association, difference or mechanism is not automatically a clinical benefit. Null findings, outcome type, study design and precision all matter.
Cautions and applicability
Single uncontrolled case with active debridement and wound care; spontaneous or procedure-related healing cannot be separated.
This individual post-radiotherapy wound only.
JBI case-report checklist — preliminary
Critical concerns
No comparator, one patient and substantial co-intervention confounding create critical risk for causal interpretation.
Selection and allocation checked · Confounding and co-interventions remain possible · Missing observations checked where reported · Outcome measurement varies by endpoint · Selective reporting cannot be excluded
No single-study GRADE certainty rating is assigned. Certainty is assessed by important outcome across a complete eligible evidence set, not by attaching a final grade to one source.
Sources and record status
PMID: 36158021 · DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i21.7545
A free full article is available through PubMed Central.
Official PubMed Central full article and PubMed bibliographic record; source identity, methods, intervention, results, funding and conflicts checked 10 August 2026.
2026-08-10