Progress in diagnosis and treatment of altitude decompression sickness

Abstract

Objective To introduce the progress in diagnosis and treatment of altitude decompression sickness （ADS） home and abroad, in order to improve the level of clinical treatment of ADS. Literature resource and selection Related references in this field home and abroad. Literature quotation Twenty-six research papers and reviews were cited. Literature synthesis There is no peculiar objective diagnosis index of ADS. The ADS diagnosis is mainly based on symptoms, while the different symptom has the different importance. The nerve fiber is apt to produce the original bubbles, so the vein gas bubble can＇t still be regarded as the effective index of predicting neural ADS. Patent foramen ovale is one of the susceptible factors to the occurrence of neurological ADS. But its exact role in ADS is worth carrying on more studies by the clinical aviation medical workers. Breathing pure oxygen continuously has certain effect on the treatment of ADS, but it needs appraising carefully the result of treatment for persons who have ADS under the actual flying condition. The main improvement of the hyperbaric oxygen （HBO） treatment scheme is reducing the treatment pressure and period. For some delayed therapy case, HBO pressurizing scheme still needs to be perfected furtherly. Conclusions Though most ADS can be totally cured, some cases may leave refractory sequelae because of the delay treating or neural ADS, so it still needs to pay full attention to diagnosing and treating of ADS. The main cause why ADS diagnosis technique stagnates is the shortage of ADS basic research. Only deeply understanding the detail about bubble formation and a series of pathology change that bubble causes in the organism may offer more effective method for diagnosis and treatment of ADS. Key words: Decompression sickness; Altitude; Diagnosis; Heart septal defects, atrial; Hyperbaric oxygenation; Vein gas bubble