![]() ![]() Note: Signs and symptoms usually appear within 15 minutes or up to 12 hours after surfacing. Confusion, personality changes or bizarre behavior.Pain in joints or arm, leg or torso muscles.However, most DCS manifests subtly with a minor joint ache or paresthesia (an abnormal burning or tingling sensation) in an extremity. Severe DCS is easy to identify because the signs and symptoms are apparent. The next most common are muscular weakness and inability to empty a full bladder. The most common manifestations of DCS are joint pain and numbness or tingling. Residual brain damage may occur, making it more likely there will be residual symptoms after a future AGE - even after treating the later instance. The consequences of this are similar to untreated DCS. Symptoms may resolve spontaneously, and the diver may not seek treatment. Like DCS, mild symptoms may appear to be due to causes other than diving, which can delay treatment. In these cases, there is time for a more thorough evaluation by a diving medical specialist to rule out other causes. These cases are true medical emergencies and require rapid evacuation to a treatment facility.ĪGE may involve minor symptoms of neurological dysfunction, such as sensations of tingling or numbness, weakness without obvious paralysis, or complaints of difficulty in thinking but no apparent confusion. Pulmonary diseases such as obstructive lung disease may increase the risk of AGE.Ī diver may surface unconscious and remain so or lose consciousness within 10 minutes of surfacing. However, AGE can occur even if the ascent was completely normal. The diver may have made a panicked ascent or held their breath during ascent. This circulation interruption is AGE, considered the more serious form of DCI. Since the brain receives the highest proportion of blood flow, it is the main organ in which bubbles may interrupt circulation if they become lodged in small arteries. Circulation distributes them to body tissues in proportion to the blood flow. This injury, called pulmonary barotrauma, involves release of gas bubbles into the arterial circulation. If a diver ascends without exhaling, air trapped in the lungs expands and may rupture lung tissue. If large numbers of bubbles enter the venous bloodstream, congestive symptoms in the lung, and eventually circulatory shock, can occur. The spinal cord and brain are usually affected, causing numbness, paralysis, impaired coordination and disorders of higher cerebral function. With high levels of bubbles, complex reactions can take place in the body. Bubbles may occur as a result of violating prescribed limits, but it can also happen even when following accepted guidelines.īubbles forming in or near joints are the presumed cause of joint pain (the bends). If the pressure is reduced too quickly, the nitrogen may come out of solution and form bubbles in the tissues and bloodstream. As long as the diver remains at pressure, the gas presents no problem. The sooner the treatment of an injury begins, the better the chance for a full recovery.ĭuring a dive, the body tissues absorb nitrogen (and/or other inert gases) from the breathing gas in proportion to the surrounding pressure. In some cases, it is mild and not an immediate threat. Decompression SicknessĭCS (also called the bends or caisson disease) results from inadequate decompression following exposure to increased pressure. The diver’s signs, symptoms and dive profiles are all considered when making a diagnosis. Evaluation of a diver for possible decompression illness is done on a case-by-case basis. The risk factors, both known and unknown, can influence the probability of DCI in many ways. Some divers get DCI more frequently than others despite following the same dive profile.Īlmost any dive profile can result in DCI, no matter how safe it seems. We don’t yet fully understand possible individual risk factors. Other factors that may increase DCI risk but lack conclusive evidence of association are obesity, dehydration, heavy exercise immediately after surfacing, and pulmonary disease. Rapid ascents contribute significantly to the risk of AGE. The known risk factors for divers are deep or long dives, cold water, heavy exercise at depth, and rapid ascents. The main risk factor for DCI is a reduction in ambient pressure, but other risk factors will increase the likelihood of DCI occurring. Who Gets Decompression Illness?ĭecompression illness affects scuba divers, aviators, astronauts and compressed-air workers. AGE occurs when bubbles enter arterial circulation, traveling through the arteries and potentially causing tissue damage by blocking blood flow at the small vessel level. DCS results from bubbles in body tissues causing local damage. DCI encompasses two diseases, decompression sickness (DCS) and arterial gas embolism (AGE). Decompression illness, or DCI, is associated with a reduction in the ambient pressure surrounding the body. ![]()
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