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Pulmonary Barotrauma

Pathophysiology
1. Scuba Diving related injury
2. Lung gas expands on ascent (Boyle's Law)
3. Expanding gas without release causes lung barotrauma
Predisposing factors
1. Breath-holding (most common cause)
2. Obstructive lung disease
  1. Asthma
  2. Bronchitis
Specific results of Pulmonary Barotrauma
1. Arterial Gas Embolism
2. Mediastinal Emphysema
3. Subcutaneous Emphysema
4. Pneumothorax

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This page was written by Scott Moses, MD. This page was last revised before 5/10/08, prior to consistent tracking of revision date. This page was last published on 11/3/2008. Please send comments and questions to the editor. Contact information may be found on the page About the Family Practice Notebook. These pages are best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0.