Divers treated in Townsville, Australia: worse symptoms lead to poorer outcomes.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT) is considered definitive treatment for decompression illness. Delay to HBOT may be due to dive site remoteness and limited facility availability. Review of cases may help identify factors contributing to clinical outcomes.

Methods

Injured divers treated in Townsville from November 2003 through December 2018 were identified. Information on demographics, initial disease severity, time to symptom onset post-dive, time to pre-HBOT oxygen therapy (in-water recompression or normobaric), time to HBOT, and clinical outcome was reviewed. Data were reported as median (interquartile range [IQR]) with Kruskal-Wallis and chi-square tests used to evaluate group differences. Significance was accepted at P < 0.05.

Results

A total of 306

SUBMITTER: Blake DF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12018695 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature