WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OXYGEN THERAPY FOR BUBBLE DISEASE AND OTHER MEDICAL CONDITIONS?
Supplemental oxygen is widely employed to improve a patient’s low oxygen level. Virtually any condition affecting the lungs can lead to a low oxygen level: asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, pneumonia, heart failure, etc. Apart from patients with “bubble disease” – DCS or AGE – if the oxygen level is not reduced there is usually no need to prescribe oxygen therapy. By contrast, oxygen is used in DCS and AGE to shrink bubbles that have formed in the blood and tissues. It is usually not given to improve a low oxygen level. A low blood oxygen level is not the problem in DCS or AGE (unless the lungs are clogged with bubbles, or there is some other direct effect on the lungs, e.g., aspiration from near drowning). In any case, the initial blood oxygen level doesn’t matter. For all cases of DCS or AGE the first aid goal is to administer 100% inhaled oxygen. Table 1 summarizes some important differences in oxygen therapy for DCS/AGE (of any cause) and for all other medical conditions. Note that, c
