Decompression Sickness (The Bends, Caisson Disease)

Description

Decompression sickness, better known as the bends, is a painful, sometimes life-threatening condition of blood gases that is caused by a sudden drop in environmental pressure.

Frequent signs and symptoms

Symptoms may occur immediately or up to 24 hours after the pressure change. Although symptoms may vary, they include the following:

• Excessive fatigue, loss of appetite, a general feeling of something not being “right”

• Mild to severe joint pain, especially in the shoulders, hips, knees, and elbows

• Chest pain, shortness of breath, a burning sensation under the sternum (breastbone)

• Severe breathing difficulty

• Severe abdominal or back pain

• Coughing

• Weakness, loss of normal sensation, paralysis

• Loss of balance

• Loss of consciousness and coma (rare)

• Inability to speak

• Blindness or deafness

• Difficult urination

• Red rash and itching

Causes

Decompression sickness results from the formation of nitrogen bubbles in the blood. Nitrogen normally exists in blood, but if the pressure around the body drops rapidly—such as with surfacing too quickly while scuba diving, or climbing too rapidly in a nonpressurized aircraft—the nitrogen collects in bubbles in the blood vessels. These bubbles may block the blood vessels, depriving vital organs—including the brain, heart, and lungs—of essential blood nutrients.

Factors that increase risk

• Scuba diving (commercial or recreational), especially multiple dives in a single day

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