gms | German Medical Science

78th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery

German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery

16.05. - 20.05.2007, Munich

Article

Send article

Diving accidents in the otorhinolaryngological field – analyses of 429 divers via questionnaire

Meeting Abstract

Search Medline for

German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. 78th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. Munich, 16.-20.05.2007. Düsseldorf, Köln: German Medical Science; 2007. Doc07hno027

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.egms.de/en/meetings/hno2007/07hno027.shtml

Published: August 8, 2007

© 2007 Klingmann et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.

Outline

Text

Background: Due to the increasing number of scuba divers in Germany the otorhinolaryngologist has to face more and more diving associated disorders of the ENT area. However, data about the incidence of these disorders is insufficient. Objective of this study was to determine the incidence of ENT disorders in association with scuba diving.

Methods: Study design was a not randomized retrospective cohort study based on questionnaires. Study population were 429 active divers attending three medical diving symposia.

Results: The study population had a very high diving experience (mean of logged dives 670.0) and a high diving certification level. Otitis externa was very frequent (43.6%). Barotrauma of the sinuses (10.9%), alternobaric vertigo (9.0%) and barotrauma of the middle ear (8.7%) played and important role as well. In contrast, inner ear barotrauma and decompression illness of the inner ear were rare (1.7 % each). Ten percent of the divers suffered decompression illness (DCI). The overall risk to suffer DCI was 1:5463 dives.

Conclusion: Considerable numbers of scuba divers suffer of diving relates disorder in the ENT area. We recommend that divers with a history of ENT problems should be examined by an ENT specialist with diving experience to decide whether they are fit to dive. We also found a high number of divers with DCI in their history. Therefore every ENT specialist should be aware of the symptoms and treatment of this disease.