Diving Medicine: A Review of Current Evidence

Article Figures & Data

Table 2.

Presenting Signs and Symptoms in Patients with Arterial Gas Embolism

Sign or Symptom	Percentage
Stupor or confusion	24
Coma without seizures	22
Coma with seizures	18
Unilateral motor deficits	14
Visual disturbances	9
Vertigo	8
Unilateral sensory deficits	8
Bilateral motor deficits	8
Collapse	4

Reproduced with permission from Neurologic Complications of Scuba Diving from the June 1, 2001 issue of American Family Physician. Copyright © 2001 American Academy of Family Physicians. All Rights Reserved.

Table 4.

Summary of Diving-Related Conditions^{4,6,7,10,15,16}

Condition	Presentation	Dive History	Prevention/Treatment
Barotrauma
Middle ear	Acute ear pain, vertigo, tympanic membrane rupture	Usually during descent	Slow equalization on descent, decongestants, consider antibiotics for tympanic membrane perforation
Inner ear	Acute vertigo, nausea, vomiting, hearing loss	Usually during descent	Bed rest, elevated head, avoidance of Valsalva, otolaryngology consult
Sinus	Acute facial pain, epistaxis	Usually during descent	Slow equalization on descent, decongestants
Arterial gas embolism	Stupor, coma, focal weakness, visual disturbances	Immediately upon surfacing or during ascent	100% oxygen, supportive care, US Navy Table 6 Algorithm
Decompression Sickness
Type I	Poorly localized joint pain, rash, itching	Significant time at depth; 50% develop symptoms within 1 hour of surfacing, 90% within 6 hours	100% oxygen, supportive care, US Navy Table 6 Algorithm
Type II	Numbness, dizziness, weakness, gait abnormality, hypoesthesia	Significant time at depth; 50% develop symptoms within 1 hour of surfacing, 90% within 6 hours	100% oxygen, supportive care, US Navy Table 6 Algorithm