What Researchers Did
Researchers described the case of a man who accidentally experienced extreme decompression in an industrial vacuum chamber and was later treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
What They Found
A man was accidentally exposed to an altitude greater than 22,555 m (74,000 ft) for 3-5 minutes, resulting in burst lung, massive decompression sickness, and ebulism. He remained unconscious for at least 5.5 hours after the accident. He received hyperbaric treatment using a modified U.S. Navy Table 6A and made a full clinical recovery, despite a CPK peak of 8000 units two days later indicating significant tissue damage.
Canadian Relevance
This study covers decompression sickness, which is a Health Canada-recognised indication for hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Study Limitations
As a case report, this study describes a single patient's experience, so its findings cannot be broadly applied to all cases of severe decompression injury.