Has anyone been diving after a collapsed lung?

[kimbalabala]

To add another question to this ... my son had a spontaneous pneumothorax when he was a (tall and gangly) teenager. They were not able to simply evacuate the air and let it heal - he had to have the abrasive surgery (as I understand it) and I believe the result is that his lung is essentially now stuck to his chest wall. Would he ever be able to dive? I remember being told at the time that he would never be able to be in an unpressurized cockpit or scuba dive - but I'm wondering if my memory is correct or if there are exceptions? (He's not talking about diving - I'm just curious.)

 

[TSandM]

The problem is that, although your son has had one lung pleurodesed, there is a significant likelihood that the same kind of abnormalities exist in the other lung. It is generally felt that spontaneous pneumothorax, because of the risk of recurrence (which may happen on either side) is an absolute contraindication to diving.

 

[kimbalabala]

Thanks - this is what I thought. It just makes sense that he would be at greater risk. I also assumed that if he is at depth and ascends incorrectly (for any reason or any amount) the lung that is stationary wouldn't have the flexibility to adjust at all. I'm not a doctor so my opinion is just based on "seems like" sort of reasoning. Glad he hasn't shown an interest in diving.

 

[johnSTN]

I need an advice. Iam 49 yo male who had history of pneumotorax 20 years ago, spontanious 10-15% collapsed. No medical intervention was needed at that time. I would like to start scuba, but PADI madical form gives me high risk gruop and discurrage from diving. My primary phisician feels does not want to sign a PADI form. I went even for CT scan of my chest with no diseases or plebs in lungs in redilogic exam. I never had any lung problems since that. I dont smoke, heathy person. What should i do dive or no?. High big risk do i have of pneumotorax after 20 years ?

 

[diveflick]

25 years ago I had what I thought was a spontaneous Pneumo. anyway diving in Belize this summer there was a death (snorkel guide) and one school of thought was that this guy had a spontaneous pneumo. anyway my wife being a doctor suddenly recalled my issue 25 years ago and freaked..righfully so. so we went and had a 64 Slice CT done. the pulmonologist reviewed it and declared it perfect with no cysts or blebs. in his history of what happened to me 25 years ago he thinks that I did not in fact have a spontaneous in the classic sense brought on bly blebs or cysts. rather he thinks my coughing due to a nasty cold had lodged some flem and during one of my coughing spats that I ruptured the lung. my wife felt a lot better and so did I. i told him that i would not ask him to clear me. he knows my wife and I well and said that it was my risk, but that he was not overly concernened about me being a repeat spontaneous again..especially since it has been 25 years and lots of dives. he did caution me though to be extremely cautious about my ascent speed.

 

[Sloeber]

Henry,
If you'd like a hyperbaric physician who evaluates divers to put eyes on your file, there are a few who are relatively close to Champaign. The closest is at Methodist Hospital of Clarian Health in Indianapolis. In the Chicago area, there are Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey and Swedish Covenant Hospital in the city. In St. Louis, there is St. Luke's Hospital. We can provide contact info for one or more of these if you need it.
In general, people who have made a full, uncomplicated recovery from a traumatic pneumothorax are ok to dive, but we would encourage you to have a board-certified hyperbaric physician evaluate you. If that doesn't work for you, then you can have your radiologist contact us at the Duke Hyperbaric Center and we'll put him/her in touch with one of our attending physicians.
Duke Dive Medicine. Doctors for Divers, Climbers and Explorers

"I think I'm willing to take the known risk. I think I'd rather die from a diving accident in SouthEast Asia than a cycling accident in Central Illinois."

A final word on risk: having analyzed a few diving fatalities, my guess is that most victims, if they could speak, would not be saying, "By golly, that was worth it!"

Good luck, and enjoy a slice of Papa Del's for those of us back east who can't get good pan pizza!

DDM,

Thanks for your reply!

First, yes, I'd certainly be interested in the contact info you have for the specialists you have mentioned. Never can be too safe when discussing a potentially fatal accident. The Chicago area would best, only because I'm familar with it, but I would absolutely be interested in each of the 3 locals (Chicago, Indy, Louis).

Second, I didn't mean to say I wanted to die, nor did I imply diving was worth dying for. I've come rather close to dying on 2 seperate occassions simply from riding my bike down the road. Who knows, 3rd time might be the charm. Just saying, I could stay in Illinois and run those risks, or do some diving instead and accept those risks. In the end, there are inherit risks in anything we do.

Finally, you can now order Papa Dels and have it shipped anywhere in the USA. Not sure on specifics (they deliver to my home! ) but I think they cook it halfway, freeze it, ship via FedEx on dry ice, then you finish the cooking process at home. Just FWIW

 

[Sloeber]

You are somewhat in luck in that I invented multi-slice CT scanning and also had a broken rib and pneumthorax in my teens (late 70's) playing football. I was also a commercial shellfish scubadiver during high school and college and completed over a couple thousand dives since the injury. Injury was in late fall and i didnt dive again til April. Didnt have the benefit of CT to give me info to help make that decision.

Couple points:
1) There are no guarantees in life everything is a risk, i.e. driving cars is the greatest risk you take on a daily basis.
2) medical profession is ultra conservative particularly in the litigous USA. There almost has to be clinical trials that are double blinded with placebos to get a "definite" thumbs up.
3) A lot of people have surgery and get "air" inside them that is likely to be reabsorbed over time. I see it every day in neurosurgical cases. As a believer in the medical imaging that I helped create; I would trust a CT to show me a) bone healed, b) air gone, and maybe c) nothing strange re the injured site. My educated guess is it takes 6 months to reach that condition wheteher it were thoracic or neurological sequalae.
4) sit on the bench for the winter (****, Illinois is cold man), spring time get a CT scan, summer start some dives under close supervision, very shallow at first (remember the biggest pressure change differentially speaking is in the first 10 feet!)
5) only you can decide this thus you cant hang the risk on anyone else but yourself. I took the risk and I have been fine. You could take the risk and encounter an issue. Be prepared.

Always willing to look at your scans but don't expect me to tell you their is no risk, just not gonna happen.

Cruisin Home,

Thanks for the reply!

I'd be interested in having you take a look at my scans. If the offer still stands could you please contact me by PM so we can work out the details.

Thanks,
Henry

 

[Rhino434]

Hi Sloeber,
Like you I had an accident, resulting in 5 broken ribs and a punctured lung (the next day). I had a thorocotomy as a result, and it was one of the worst times in my life.... especially since I am an instructor, and have been diving since I was 13 yrs old (I am OLD now). Anyway, the ER doc said, "You'll never dive again", but my surgeon told me, "I didn't work on you so that you couldn't do the things you love... wait six month, but you can dive". Well, I waited 8 months and then did a week liveaboard in Tahiti. Multiple 100 foot dives, you name it. Had about a hundred dives since, no problem. Going to Bonaire in two months, and a liveaboard to Australia in February.
However, I am VERY cognisant of pressure changes and dive aware of my bouyance more than ever before. I begin to exhale the second I ascend any distance.... so, enjoy yourself, but just be careful mi amigo! KEN

 

[char.b]

Thank you for the encouraging stories I am currently awaiting my medical and for the next padi course to start at my local dive centre. So fingers crossed ill be diving again by the end of the summer!

 

[Doppler]

A friend had a lung collapse on him; result of a bullet passing through during the Vietnam conflict... dives a lot... writes books about it... quite well-known. Your mileage may vary but good luck.