Abstract: Objective To observe the effect of hyperbaric oxygen(HBO) on antioxidation following traumatic brain injury (TBI) in rats and to provide experimental evidence for HBO treatment of patients with TBI.Methods Eighty healthy male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 8 groups,each consisting 10animals.The first 4 groups (i.e.group 1 to group 4) were TBI groups,which were sacrificed at hour 24 ( group 1 ),day 5 ( group 2 ),day 10 ( group 3 ) and day 15 ( group 4) respectively,following the development of the model.Group 5 to 7 were assigned as treatment groups,and the animals in group 5 received HBO treatment on the same day after development of the model until they were sacrificed on the fifth day.The animals in group 6 received HBO treatment on the 5th day after development of the model until they were sacrificed on the 10th day.The animals in group 7 received HBO treatment on the 10th day after development of the model until they were sacrificed on the 15th day.Group 8 was the control group.The TBI rat model was developed by using lateral fluid percussion (LFP) method.Such was the HBO treatment profile:treatment pressure,0.2 MPa; oxygen concentration 100%.oxygen-breathing time,45 min; one session a day; course of treatment,5 sessions.The activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and content of (MDA) in the serum were detected with spectrophotometry,and SOD/MDA ratio was then calculated.Results The SOD activity [(280.11 ±80.47) U/ml] and SOD/MDA ratio [(85.57 ± 35.60) U/nmol] of the HBO group were significantly higher than those of the TBI group [ (221.81 ± 43.35) U/ml (46.38 ± 18.38) U/nmol ] (P <0.01 ),though the content of MDA was lower than that of the TBI group,but without statistical significance.The SOD activities of all the HBO groups were higher than those of the corresponding TBI group.The SOD activity [ (305.66 ±68.23) U/ml] and SOD/MDA ratio[ (96.58 ± 31.11) U/nmol] of the HBO group,which began to receive HBO treatment in the sub -acute stage (5 days after the development of the model)were significantly higher than those of the TBI group [ ( 209.07 ± 19.65 ) U/ml ( 51.42 ± 8.56 ) U/nmol ](P < 0.05).Conclusions HBO treatment within the specific time after traumatic brain injury could enhance antioxidation in a short time.For this reason,in - time and appropriate HBO treatment would not aggravate oxidative stress,but instead alleviate oxidative damage.