Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Head and Neck Center, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Middle ear barotrauma (MEBt) is the most common medical complication in diving, posing a serious risk to dive safety. Given this prevalence and the continuing growth of the diving industry, a comprehensive overview of the condition is warranted.
This was a survey study. An anonymous, electronic questionnaire was distributed to 7,060 recipients: professional divers of the Finnish Border Guard, the Finnish Rescue Services, and the Finnish Heritage agency; and recreational divers registered as members of the Finnish Divers' Association reachable by e-mail (roughly two-thirds of all members and recreational divers in Finland). Primary outcomes were self-reported prevalence, clinical characteristics, and health effects of MEBt while diving. Secondary outcomes were adjusted odds ratios (OR) for frequency of MEBt with respect to possible risk factors.
A total of 1,881 respondents participated in the study (response rate 27%). In total, 81% of the respondents had experienced MEBt while diving. Of those affected, 38% had used medications and 1% had undergone otorhinolaryngology-related surgical procedures due to MEBt. Factors most associated with MEBt were poor subjective success in Valsalva ('occasionally' versus 'always' successful: OR 11.56; 95% CI 7.24-18.47) and Toynbee ('occasionally' versus 'always' successful: OR 3.51; 95% CI 1.95-6.30) manoeuvres.
MEBt is common in both recreational and professional divers, having affected 81% of the respondents. The main possible risk factors include poor success in pressure equalisation manoeuvres.
Even if recreational diving is gradually becoming safer, the 2-6 fatalities each year is the most serious problem in recreational diving. Human factors are behind 75% of the fatalities and medical problems seldom cause fatalities. On average 40 recreational divers are treated with recompression each year. Signs and symptoms are in general mild and only few sequelas are seen. The number of traumas to ear/balance organs, sinuses, lungs etc are difficult to estimate but these are most likely not a large part of all patients in the health care. It is currently difficult to estimate the risks in recreational diving since there is no exact information on the number of dives that are performed each year.
