Usefulness of an Ultrasound-guided Prehospital Care for SCUBA Diving Accidents

Abstract

ABSTRACT The incidence of diving accidents is increasing. Point-of-care ultrasound is the only imaging tool available in the field for the military physician who practices in isolated conditions. While ultrasound is integrated in the pre-hospital evaluation protocols of severe trauma patients, few applications are described for diving accident victims. Through a clinical case, we propose an algorithm of ultrasound triage for diving accidents with pulmonary symptoms. Point-of-care ultrasound makes it possible to avoid a risky transfer, by supporting a diagnosis and the treatment on the spot, to rule out contraindications to recompression, and to detect and monitor the treatment of high-risk complications such as the capillary leak syndrome.