Prevention of decompression sickness : Oxygen decompression

Brain multi-infarct and decompression sickness

Scuba diving is associated with an important risk of devel­oping decompression sickness secondary to formation of gas bubbles inside the body. The latter is formed mainly by nitrogen in the body on the diver’s way to the surface (1,2). In some cases, it might injure the central nervous system. Several decompression cases that have been asso­ciated with neurologic symptoms are described in the l...

Goodbye Decompression Sickness

by T.J.R. Francis, D.J. Smith and J.J. W. Sykes, Institute of Naval Medicine, Hampshire, England. The current means by which we classify decompression sickness dates back only 30 years to the experience gained during the construction of the Dartford Tunnel in London. Golding et al [1] proposed a system for decompression sickness based upon perceived severity of the cases which arose in the cais...

Decompression sickness: a review.

Work in compressed air is a dangerous activity, whether it is carried on under water in a conventional diving suit, in self-contained breathing apparatus or in a diving bell, or in relatively dry conditions in a caisson or an underwater tunnel. Surprisingly large numbers of men have worked at one time or another in compressed air in tunnels or caissons and it is the dangers which arise to the h...

Hyperbaric oxygen pre-breathe modifies the outcome of decompression sickness.

Deep sea divers, aviators and astronauts are at risk of decompression sickness when the ambient pressure reductions exceed a critical threshold. Venous bubbles associated with decompression sickness have the potential to react with the vascular membrane and adjacent blood products, eliciting an inflammatory cascade. Preventive measures usually involve careful decompression procedures to avoid o...

Histopathology of Experimental Decompression Sickness.