RT Book, Section
A1 Bennett, Michael H.
A1 Mitchell, Simon J.
A2 Jameson, J. Larry
A2 Fauci, Anthony S.
A2 Kasper, Dennis L.
A2 Hauser, Stephen L.
A2 Longo, Dan L.
A2 Loscalzo, Joseph
SR Print(0)
ID 1164035738
T1 Hyperbaric and Diving Medicine
T2 Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 20e
YR 2018
FD 2018
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9781259644016
LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1164035738
RD 2024/04/19
AB Hyperbaric  medicine  is  the  treatment  of  health  disorders  using  whole-body  exposure  to  pressures  >101.3  kPa  (1  atmosphere  or  760  mmHg).  In  practice,  this  almost  always  means  the  administration  of  hyperbaric  oxygen  therapy  (HBO2T).  The  Undersea  and  Hyperbaric  Medical  Society  (UHMS)  defines  HBO2T  as:  “a  treatment  in  which  a  patient  breathes  100%  oxygen  …  while  inside  a  treatment  chamber  at  a  pressure  higher  than  sea  level  pressure  (i.e.,  >1  atmosphere  absolute  or  ATA).”  The  treatment  chamber  is  an  airtight  vessel  variously  called  a  hyperbaric  chamber,  recompression  chamber,  or  decompression  chamber,  depending  on  the  clinical  and  historical  context.  Such  chambers  may  be  capable  of  compressing  a  single  patient  (a  monoplace  chamber)  or  multiple  patients  and  attendants  as  required  (a  multiplace  chamber)  (Figs.  S11-1  and  S11-2).  Historically,  these  compression  chambers  were  first  used  for  the  treatment  of  divers  and  compressed  air  workers  suffering  decompression  sickness  (DCS;  “the  bends”).  Although  the  prevention  and  treatment  of  disorders  arising  after  decompression  in  diving,  aviation,  and  space  flight  has  developed  into  a  specialized  field  of  its  own,  it  remains  closely  linked  to  the  broader  practice  of  hyperbaric  medicine.