ABSTRACT
Barotrauma is defined as the tissue damage caused by expansion or contraction of enclosed gas spaces, due to pressure changes. It is a direct effect of these changes causing tissue distortion.
The volume change in gas spaces with depth is proportionally greatest near the surface, and so it is in this zone that ear barotrauma is more frequently experienced. It is probably the most common occupational disease of divers, experienced to some degree by almost all.
