Injuries of Darth Vader

[agentjedi]

As it was discussed in commentary of the previous post, the injuries of Darth Vader clearly indicates some kind of cybernetic implant at the base of his skull, which lead most of us to think that Vader is essentially a quadriplegic. (That and the fact that Luke has to drag his father to the shuttle after the duel

Comments

[rabidfangurl]

If HBOT is used for the treatment of smoke inhalation and burn injuries, why wasn't it discontinued when the injures healed? Also, the suit seems to provide continuous pressure without breaks. What effect would that have?

[jedinemo]

Those are good points, and in the whole area of his breathing, I just suspend disbelief, because his limitations don't follow medical logic. You're right that in Earth reality, a smoke inhalation victim's lungs would have healed. Or they would have died in the first day or so, but they would not stay in the state of limbo shown for Vader.

Since a HBO chamber about doubles the amount of dissolved oxygen in one's blood, I interpreted his problem as being his lungs don't exchange gases very well, and are scarred and inelastic like a COPD patient. The pressurized helmet or chamber then compensates for his lack of exchange ability. I see the chamber and the helmet as using room air, because prolonged exposure to 100% oxygen is toxic.

I don't believe he has any problem with his respiratory drive, and that his body initiates breaths normally. In Dark Lord, Luceno does include a scene where Vader and Palps have a discussion with Vader unmasked inside a chamber. It's a fairly long conversation, and Vader is described as speaking normally

[rabidfangurl]

I'm not sure I go for the room air idea, but that's because I'm not sure how vulnerable his lungs would be to infection. I always theorized the air was medicated/purified in some way, to prevent further damage.

I like the gas exchange explanation; it makes a lot of sense. I also implies that the burns to his airway are chemical burns, because smoke inhalation burns never reach the lungs.

The lack of earth logic bothers me a bit, but that's mostly because I was doing burn research last night and there are so many things wrong either with the extent of Vader's injuries or with his treatment. It makes me want to spork Palpy for terrible medical management. Unless that was the point, of course...

[jedinemo]

I'm not sure I go for the room air idea

Ah, I got caught in a jargon term. Medically, "room air" just means at normal atmospheric 21% oxygen, instead of supplemented 100% oxygen. I'd agree that he breathes filtered air, and I think the Vader Ultimate Guide talks about the air pump that feeds the ventilator having filtration.

It makes me want to spork Palpy for terrible medical management.

Yeah, when you read in the EU about all the things that bacta cures, you have to wonder if it was on backorder the week that Vader was injured.