Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1986 May;93(5):642-5.
doi: 10.1016/s0161-6420(86)33687-x.

Air travel and intraocular gas

J P Dieckert, P S O'Connor, D E Schacklett, T J Tredici, H M Lambert, J W Fanton, J O Sipperley, E R Rashid

Air travel and intraocular gas

J P Dieckert et al. Ophthalmology. 1986 May.

Abstract

The safety of air travel for persons with intraocular gas after ocular surgery has been in question since the mid 1970s, when the use of intraocular gases after vitrectomy became widespread. After vitrectomy, air-fluid exchange was performed on six Rhesus monkeys. During simulated air travel in an altitude chamber, intraocular pressure rose an average of 42 mmHg with intraocular air volumes as small as 0.25 cc. Hypotony was observed after return to ground level in all cases. Transient central retinal artery occlusion and pupillary block was observed. Patient safety and comfort is endangered during air travel with very small volumes of intraocular gas.

PubMed Disclaimer

LinkOut - more resources