Barosinusitis

Excerpt

Barosinusitis is a disease of sinonasal injury and inflammation due to rapid, uncompensated changes of pressure within the sinonasal anatomy. This leads to mucosal damage, most commonly resulting in facial pain or pressure over the affected sinuses (92%), headache, odontalgia, cloudy mucus, and more severely, epistaxis. Out of the paranasal sinuses, the paired frontal sinuses are most commonly affected followed by the maxillary sinuses, and more rarely the sphenoid sinuses. There are no reported cases of ethmoid barosinusitis likely due to there location and surrounding anatomical configuration.

The first reported case of barosinusitis was noted in 1942, in an aviation pilot during World War Two and the first case of diving-related barosinusitis was noted in 1965. Since those initial case reports, multiple other causes of barosinusitis have been reported in the literature which includes hyperbaric oxygen chambers, chinook winds, general anesthesia, nose-blowing, vigorous Valsalva maneuvers, and long exposure to high altitudes.

Although society is spending increasing amounts of time traveling at high altitudes and diving to the depths of the ocean, the literature surrounding barosinusitis is lacking. The authors of this study hope to provide information to physicians and the public alike for proper identification of this disease. Improvement in barosinusitis identification will lead to increased reporting in the literature, thus allowing for treatment teams to improve treatment outcomes and primary prevention