Abstract
-
Increasing altitude exposes one to a hypobaric hypoxic environment.
-
Without acclimatisation, people are at risk of high-altitude syndromes, predominantly acute mountain sickness, high-altitude pulmonary oedema or high-altitude cerebral oedema.
-
Therapy for each of these is descent to a lower altitude and supplemental oxygen.
-
Acetazolamide and dexamethasone have a role to play in prevention and treatment.
-
Hyperbaric therapy can be considered if there is a delay in evacuating the patient to a lower altitude.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Yaron M, Honigman B. High-altitude medicine. In: Marx J, Hockberger R, Walls R, editors. Rosen’s emergency medicine: concepts and clinical practice, vol. 2. 7th ed. Philadelphia: Mosby; 2010.
Hackett PH, Roach RC. High-altitude medicine and physiology. In: Auerbach PS, editor. Wilderness medicine. 6th ed. Missouri: Mosby; 2011.
Hackett PH. The cerebral etiology of high-altitude cerebral edema and acute mountain sickness. Wilderness Environ Med. 1999;10:97–109.
Hou S-W, Lin AC-M, Wang T-L. Clinical aspects of high-altitude illness. Ann Disaster Med. 2004;2 Suppl 2:S53–60.
Ho M-K, Siu AY-C. High altitude medicine. Hong Kong Med Diary. 2010;15:32–4.
Hultgren HN, Honigman B, Theis K, Nicholas D. High-altitude pulmonary edema at a ski resort. West J Med. 1996;164:222–7.
Luks AM, McIntosh SE, Grissom CK, Auerbach PS, Rodway GW, Schoene RB, Zafren K, Hackett PH. Wilderness Medical Society practice guidelines for the prevention and treatment of acute altitude illness: 2014 update. Wilderness Environ Med. 2014;25:S4–14.
Stream JO, Grissom CK. Update on high-altitude pulmonary edema: pathogenesis, prevention and treatment. Wilderness Environ Med. 2008;19:293–303.
Gallagher SA, Hackett PH. High-altitude illness. Emerg Med Clin N Am. 2004;22:329–55.
West JB. Who should not go high? High Altitude Med Biol. 2009;10(1):1–2.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer India
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Matthew, J.A. (2016). Altitude Medicine. In: David, S. (eds) Clinical Pathways in Emergency Medicine. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2710-6_22
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2710-6_22
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New Delhi
Print ISBN: 978-81-322-2708-3
Online ISBN: 978-81-322-2710-6
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)