Pulmonary barotrauma
Background
- Occurs when diver breathing compressed air ascends too rapidly
Clinical Features
- Symptoms occur minutes to hours after surfacing
- Can occur without rapid ascent in patients with obstructive lung disease
- Lung rupture can lead to:
- Pneumomediastinum
- Pneumothorax
- Air embolism
Differential Diagnosis
Scuba Diving Emergencies
- Barotrauma of descent
- Otic barotrauma
- Sinus barotrauma
- Face squeeze
- Barotrauma of ascent
- At depth injuries
- Oxygen toxicity
- Nitrogen narcosis
- Hypothermia
- Contaminated gas mixture (e.g. CO toxicity)
- Caustic cocktail from rebreathing circuit
Evaluation
- Clinical diagnosis; do not delay intervention for studies
- CXR
- Assess for alternate etiologies
Management
- Pneumomediastinum and pneumothorax do not require recompression; see management section on those pages
- Air embolism
- IVF (increases tissue perfusion)
- Rapid recompression
Disposition
See Also
External Links
References
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