Are pulmonary bleb and bullae a contraindication for hyperbaric oxygen treatment?
BACKGROUND
Air cysts or blebs in the lungs may predispose pulmonary barotrauma (PBT) by causing air trapping when there is a change in environmental pressure. The changes in the environmental pressure are also seen during hyperbaric oxygen treatments (HBOT).


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to determine how patients were evaluated for pulmonary blebs or bullae, and PBT prevalence in different HBOT centers.


METHODS
HBOT centers were asked to participate in this study and a questionnaire was send via e-mail. A total of 98 centers responded to our questionnaire.


RESULTS
Sixty-five HBOT centers (66.3%) reported that they applied HBOT to the patients with air cysts in their lungs. X-ray was the most widely used screening method for patients with a history of a lung disease. The prevalence of PBT in theses centers was calculated as 0.00045%.


CONCLUSIONS
Our survey demonstrated that (1) a significant portion of the HBO centers accept patients with pulmonary bleb or bullae, (2) although insufficient, X-ray is the mostly used screening tool for patients with a history of pulmonary disease and (3) the prevalence of pulmonary barotrauma is very low in HBOT.
Department of Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, 34093 Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey. akin@toklu.net
Akin Savas
AS
Toklu
Sefika
S
Korpinar
Mustafa
M
Erelel
Gunalp
G
Uzun
Senol
S
Yildiz
D001469:Barotrauma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D001768:Blister / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D000075202:Contraindications; D003560:Cysts / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D006931:Hyperbaric Oxygenation / Q000379:methods; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D055370:Lung Injury / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D011364:Professional Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology