High-altitude illness: Management approach

Gökhan Aksel; Şeref Kerem Çorbacıoğlu; Can Özen

doi:10.1016/j.tjem.2019.09.002

Gökhan Aksel¹, Şeref Kerem Çorbacıoğlu², Can Özen³

¹University of Health Sciences, Ümraniye Training and Research Hospital, Emergency Medicine Clinic, İstanbul, Turkey
²University of Health Sciences, Keçiören Training and Research Hospital, Emergency Medicine Clinic, Ankara, Turkey
³Emergency Department, King's College Hospital, London, UK

Keywords: Altitude sickness, Mountain sickness, Altitude hypoxia, Brain edema, Emergency medicine

Abstract

In high altitudes, usually above 2500 m, travelers are faced with decreased partial pressure of oxygen along with decreased barometric pressure. High-altitude illness, a syndrome of acute mountain sickness, high-altitude cerebral edema and high-altitude pulmonary edema, occurs due to the hypobaric hypoxia when there is inadequate acclimatization.

This review provides detailed information about pathophysiology, clinical features, prevention and treatment strategies for high-altitude illness according to the current literature.