The aim of this review was to synthesise evidence on ear, nose, and throat (ENT) and related head and neck complications in scuba divers, with emphasis on mechanisms of injury, dive phase-specific risk patterns, and implications for clinical management and fitness-to-dive decision-making.
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
Audiologists and ENT clinicians who see recreational divers should be aware of the phase-specific mechanisms of diving-related ear injury (e.g., barotrauma on descent, reverse squeeze on ascent); this review provides a useful clinical framework but does not change established management protocols.
Organizing diving ENT complications by phase-of-dive offers a practical diagnostic framework that could improve triage and counseling for the growing population of recreational divers presenting with ear-related complaints.
- 01Structured review published in Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine (DOI: 10.28920/dhm56.3.329-341).
- 02A phase-of-dive framework (descent, bottom, ascent) is applied to categorize ENT injury mechanisms.
- 03Covers a broad range of complications including barotrauma (pressure injury), sinus squeezes, and inner ear decompression sickness.
- 04Synthesizes existing evidence rather than generating new primary data.
- 05Relevant for audiologists, ENT surgeons, and dive medicine specialists managing diver populations.
ENT and head/neck complications in scuba divers can be systematically categorized using a phase-of-dive framework.
studysupported- PMID
- 42743574
- DOI
- 10.28920/dhm56.3.329-341.
- Journal
- Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine
- Publication type
- review
- Evidence level
- 2a
- Population
- Scuba divers experiencing ENT and head/neck complications
- Intervention
- Phase-of-dive framework applied to ENT complication classification
Primary outcomes
Classification of ENT disorders by dive phase; Synthesis of mechanisms of injury across diving phases