Health encyclopaedia

Health encyclopaedia - Alphabetical Topic List

Prevention of Air embolism

Proper training for scuba diving always includes full instruction on the dangers of ‘the bends’; this training includes safe procedures for breathing while ascending and descending in the water, and how to surface correctly.

In healthcare settings, care is always taken to prevent air bubbles entering the blood. Doctors and nurses press syringes to remove any air, before they give injections, and surgery is monitored to make sure air bubbles do not form in the blood vessels. Catheters or other tubes into the body are removed using a technique that minimises the possibility of air embolisms. Air embolisms are therefore rare and occur more frequently in divers than in patients.

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