[Air embolism]

Air embolism is a dramatic event which threatens the patient's life during invasive therapeutic and diagnostic procedures. Immediately after establishment of the diagnosis treatment in a hyperbaric chamber should be started. The prognosis depends to a certain extent on how quickly the patient is transferred into a hyperbaric chamber. Treatment with hyperbaric oxygen is based on fundamental physical and physiological principles of the action of compressed air and the supply of a large amount of oxygen in a dissolved form into the ischaemic tissue beyond the obstruction. Installation of hyperbaric chambers in hospitals would make successful and prompt treatment of all cases of embolism possible, as well as of some other diseases indicated for hyperbaric oxygen therapy.