HYPERBARIC COMPLICATIONS

Course overview

HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY (HBOT) IS GENERALLY A RELATIVELY SAFE THERAPY FOR VARIOUS CONDITIONS. HOWEVER, THERE ARE SOME ADVERSE SIDE EFFECTS. WHEN ADVERSE, SIDE-EFFECT DATA WAS COLLECTED FROM 2009 THROUGH 2010 ON PATIENTS TREATED IN MONOPLACE CHAMBERS, IT SHOWED SIDE-EFFECT RATES ESTIMATED AROUND 0.4%. ABOUT HALF OF ALL ADVERSE EVENTS FALL UNDER THE CATEGORY OF "EAR PAIN" AND A QUARTER ARE CLASSIFIED AS "CONFINEMENT ANXIETY." WHEN EXAMINING THE COMPLICATIONS OF HYPERBARIC OXYGEN TREATMENT, THERE ARE TWO CATEGORIES: SIDE EFFECTS OF PRESSURE AND SIDE EFFECTS OF OXYGEN. THE SIDE EFFECT OF PRESSURE IS BAROTRAUMA, WHICH CAN AFFECT ANY CLOSED, AIR-FILLED CAVITY (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO EARS, SINUS, TEETH, LUNGS, AND BOWEL). THE SIDE EFFECTS OF OXYGEN CAN FURTHER BE SUBDIVIDED INTO THREE CATEGORIES: PULMONARY, NEUROLOGIC, AND OPHTHALMOLOGIC. CONFINEMENT ANXIETY IS MORE AN EFFECT OF THE PHYSICAL SPACE OF THE CHAMBER AND NOT A TRUE COMPLICATION. THIS ACTIVITY DESCRIBES THE COMPLICATIONS OF HBO AND HIGHLIGHTS THE ROLE OF THE INTERPROFESSIONAL TEAM IN THE EVALUATION AND MANAGEMENT OF THESE PATIENTS.