The treatment of choice for air or gas embolism of the arterial or venous system is recompression in a hyperbaric chamber.
Treatment is most effective when initiated within minutes of the incident.
However, evidence has shown that delayed and repeat treatment has demonstrated a means to a more expedient recovery. Recompression of gas bubbles as well as the rescue of hypoxic tissue by way of HBO 2 treatment is the only form of treatment known. HBO 2 reduces the mortality rate and remedies the development of permanent neurological damage. Repeated HBO 2 treatments after the initial recompression hastens the resolution of residual signs in some cases. A Committee Report .