CT finding of VGE in the portal veins and IVC in a diver with abdominal pain: a case report.

ABSTRACT

The finding of abdominal venous gas emboli (VGE) on computerized tomography (CT) is reported for the first time in a recreational diver. The patient presented 2-3 hours after surfacing from two deep air dives and subsequently complained of visual blurring and abdominal pain. Gas bubbles in the inferior vena cava (IVC) and portal veins were found incidentally by computerized tomography (CT) during his work-up for abdominal pain. The patient was treated for decompression sickness (DCS) with a US Navy Treatment Table 6 and achieved complete resolution of symptoms. The routine use of CT for venous bubble detection in symptomatic divers is not endorsed, but may provide objective evidence of VGE when DCS is in the differential diagnosis and corroborative evidence would alter management.