Health encyclopaedia - Alphabetical Topic List
| | A | | | B | | | C | | | D | | | E | | | F | | | G | | | H | | | I | | | J | | | K | | | L | | | M | |
| | N | | | O | | | P | | | Q | | | R | | | S | | | T | | | U | | | V | | | W | | | X | | | Y | |
Treatment of Air embolism
In a case of ‘the bends’, when an air embolism has been experienced by a diver who resurfaces too quickly, the only effective treatment for a severe case is immediate recompression in a special hyperbaric chamber. The increased air pressure within the chamber reduces the size of the nitrogen bubbles in the patient's body.
When air embolism is suspected during surgery, the surgeon needs to:
Prevent more air entering the body. This can be done by sealing open blood vessels.
Reduce the amount of air already in the body. If the embolus is in an artery, this is normally done by using a hyperbaric oxygen chamber (as for divers). In both vein and artery embolisms, the patient is given pure oxygen to breathe. Air bubbles in the blood are usually made up largely of nitrogen gas, so as the patient breathes in more oxygen, the nitrogen is forced out of the body.
Support the heart and lungs while the air is absorbed into the normal blood flow. Blood pressure can be prevented from falling by introducing fluids, and the doctor may use drugs such as catecholamines to keep the heart functioning. If possible, the site of the operation should be positioned lower than the level of the heart, by repositioning the patient or tilting the operating table.
Other symptoms will be treated if they appear. For example, if the person has an air embolism in the arteries carrying blood to the brain, it may cause seizures. These are treated using drugs called barbiturates.
