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clinmed/2000120006v1 (December 22, 2000)
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A USEFUL TYMPANOMETRIC TEST FOR DOCUMENTING SUCCESSFUL AUTO-INFLATION MANEUVRE
Christos Kassionis
During recent years amateur SCUBA diving and spear – fishing became very popular in several parts of the world. As a result, we see an increasing number of patients with barotraumas of the middle ear and, less frequently, of the inner ear. In our practice we also see a considerable number of people referred by their diving school for preventive ENT evaluation. In all of these cases we want to be sure that the individual is able to consistently perform the auto – inflation (Valsava) maneuvre to equalize pressures across the tympanic membrane, when diving. The tympanometric test described below was devised to help us counsel these individuals on pursuing their favorite sport.
