Sinus air pressure injury flying or diving, the outside air pressure changes rapidly, the air pressure in the sinuses and the outside air pressure can not be balanced, resulting in sinus mucosa congestion and swelling, or even mucosal or submucosal bleeding, edema and a series of changes in the disease is called sinus air pressure injury. It occurs in the frontal sinus and maxillary sinus.
When the airplane rises, the outside air pressure is lower than the sinus pressure, the air inside the sinus escapes through the sinus opening; when the airplane falls, the outside air pressure is higher than the sinus pressure, the outside air enters the sinus through the sinus opening, so the air pressure inside and outside the sinus can be quickly balanced. If the sinus mouth is affected by some lesions, such as acute and chronic rhinitis, allergic rhinitis, nasal polyps, nasal septum deviation, etc., the ventilation is obstructed. When the aircraft rises, the air pressure in the sinus is higher than the outside air pressure, and the air can barely escape. When the aircraft descends rapidly, the sinus mouth near the lesion tissue by the outer boundary of the pressure pressure blocking the sinus mouth, the air can not enter the sinus, the sinus inside and outside the pressure loss of balance, the sinus becomes relatively negative pressure. The faster the aircraft descends, the greater the difference between the pressure inside and outside the sinus, and the negative pressure inside the sinus can produce a series of pathological changes, which can induce sinusitis symptoms if the original inflammation exists in the nose. Mainly frontal pain or numbness in the cheeks and molars, occasionally epistaxis, occasionally shock occurs. The intranasal discharge is mucous and often bloody. In mild cases, it can gradually recover in a few hours or days, but in severe cases, it often takes several weeks to heal. In cases of combined purulent infection, the symptoms are aggravated and prolonged and are accompanied by fever.
The aim of sinus pneumatic injury is to remove the cause of sinus orifice blockage as soon as possible and to restore its ventilation function. Mucosal congestion and swelling should be treated with vasoconstrictors, local heat and physical therapy. Systemic application of antibiotics or anti-allergic drugs. For pneumatic injury maxillary sinusitis puncture injection is feasible to relieve symptoms. For severe lesions that are difficult to eliminate the cause of blockage immediately, the patient can be placed in a low-pressure chamber and the air pressure can be adjusted slowly to maintain the rebalance of air pressure inside and outside the nose. When the symptoms appear in the rapid descent of the aircraft, the original speed can be raised again, and then slowly descend. If there is a hematoma under the mucosa of the sinus cavity, especially near the sinus opening, and it does not disappear after observation for a short time, sinus surgery should be done to remove it.