Recent traumatic pneumothorax

[punkin_bubbles]

Hi everyone!
I have a loved one who suffered a traumatic pneumothorax earlier this year. They needed a chest tube for nearly 4 weeks and developed pneumonia as well during that time. My understanding is that, after a lung injury like that, diving is pretty much a no go. Thankfully their lung is working again and, so far as we know is healed, but we know nothing about the degree of scarring or how precisely the lung may have changed as a result of the trauma.
They are now planning to scuba dive again less than a year after the incident occurred and I am extremely worried about complications arising underwater. Everything I’ve learned in my dive training indicates that its very unsafe to dive after sustaining that injury, and at the very least they need to get cleared by a doctor with a background in scuba medicine. Unfortunately, there is nobody with that particular expertise where we live. My questions are 1: has anyone had experience diving after a traumatic pneumothorax and how long did you wait to get back in the water and 2: supposing a dive specialist doctor can’t be found, what are the tests that they need to ask their GP to order that would look more closely at the lung?

 

[Searcaigh]

Please consult with DAN Canada / North America.

 

[Kendall Raine]

You’re right to be very concerned. The nature/cause/damage of the pneumothorax is important to know, especially if it was spontaneous. I assume from your description your friend has not consulted a hyperbaric physician.

SB is fine for anecdotes but in no way substitutes from a qualified opinion/examination.

 

[punkin_bubbles]

You’re right to be very concerned. The nature/cause/damage of the pneumothorax is important to know, especially if it was spontaneous. I assume from your description your friend has not consulted a hyperbaric physician.

SB is fine for anecdotes but in no way substitutes from a qualified opinion/examination.

I completely agree, he needs to get cleared by an actual physician. It was caused by a road accident when his ribs punctured it. I’ve been pushing to get him to get checked out but he seems to think that a few anecdotes on forums are enough to justify going on his merry way. I’m trying to have the language prepared for what specifically to ask for from the doctor. I’ll be reaching out to DAN as well.

 

[Scubagermany]

There is no way to tell what the future brings. A traumatic Pneumothorax is not a reason never to dive again after a 1 year intervall. After a sponaneous Pneumothorax we recommend 3 month of waiting and a lung function test. It helps to have a ct scan to evaluate the damage.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Hi everyone!
I have a loved one who suffered a traumatic pneumothorax earlier this year. They needed a chest tube for nearly 4 weeks and developed pneumonia as well during that time. My understanding is that, after a lung injury like that, diving is pretty much a no go. Thankfully their lung is working again and, so far as we know is healed, but we know nothing about the degree of scarring or how precisely the lung may have changed as a result of the trauma.
They are now planning to scuba dive again less than a year after the incident occurred and I am extremely worried about complications arising underwater. Everything I’ve learned in my dive training indicates that its very unsafe to dive after sustaining that injury, and at the very least they need to get cleared by a doctor with a background in scuba medicine. Unfortunately, there is nobody with that particular expertise where we live. My questions are 1: has anyone had experience diving after a traumatic pneumothorax and how long did you wait to get back in the water and 2: supposing a dive specialist doctor can’t be found, what are the tests that they need to ask their GP to order that would look more closely at the lung?

Concur with @Scubagermany re: diving after traumatic pneumothorax. It's not a show-stopper for diving again provided there's no radiologic evidence of air trapping. Typically we'd order pulmonary function testing and a high-resolution CT scan. The diving physicians in Canada that I know of are in Vancouver, Toronto, and Ottawa. If he/she is not near one of those cities, feel free to DM me the location and I can look for someone close. Divers Alert Network is also a good resource.

FTR I would diverge slightly from my German colleague re: spontaneous pneumothorax, which has a high rate of recurrence and thus for our clinic (and the US in general) is an absolute contraindication to diving unless the underlying condition has been treated and/or it's been a number of years without recurrence.

Best regards,
DDM