Diving Medicine in Clinical Practice

Overview

Journal Dtsch Arztebl Int

Specialties General Medicine
Public Health

Date 2015 Mar 24

PMID 25797514

Citations 13

Authors

Lars Eichhorn

Dieter Leyk

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Diving is a popular sport, and some recreational divers have medical risk factors. Their health can be endangered by high extracorporeal (ambient) pressure and its many systemic effects.

Methods: We review relevant publications on free (breath-hold) diving, scuba diving, medical evaluation for diving, barotrauma, decompression sickness, and diving with medical risk factors, which were retrieved by a selective search of PubMed.

Results: Free diving or scuba diving, even at seemingly innocuous depths, puts considerable stress on the cardio - vascular system, ears, and lungs. Unexpected events while diving, diminished functional reserve, and pre-existing medical illnesses increase the risk of a diving accident. An international survey revealed that minor incidents occur in 1.3% of all dives, and decompression accidents in 2 of every 10 000 dives. A properly conducted medical examination to determine diving fitness, followed by appropriate counseling, can make a life-threatening diving accident less likely.

Conclusion: To be able to certify diving fitness and give competent medical advice about diving, physicians must be well informed about the physical and physiological changes of diving and the associated risks to health, and they need to know how to perform a medical evaluation of prospective divers. In Germany, any licensed physician may judge a person fit to dive. It is recommended that this be done in adherence to the relevant evaluation standards and recommendations of the medical specialty associations. Randomized controlled trials on the effect of preventive behavior would be desirable, as would a central registry of diving accidents.

Citing Articles

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Garcia-Torres J, Segura-Egea J J Clin Exp Dent. 2024; 16(5):e634-e638.

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Diving Medicine: An Exciting Journey Through Time and Future Prospects.

Lampropoulou D, Papageorgiou D, Pliakou E Cureus. 2024; 16(3):e56947.

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An Updated Narrative Review on Ergometric Systems Applied to Date in Assessing Divers' Fitness.

Dreyer S, Schneppendahl J, Moeller F, Koch A, Muth T, Schipke J Healthcare (Basel). 2021; 9(8).

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The effect of medical history and compressor on barotrauma.

Astari A, Fatimah F, Andarini S J Public Health Res. 2021; 10(2).

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A survey on the health status of Dutch scuba diving instructors.

Komdeur P, Wingelaar T, van Hulst R Diving Hyperb Med. 2021; 51(1):18-24.

PMID: 33761537 PMC: 8313785. DOI: 10.28920/dhm51.1.18-24.

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