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Decompression sickness during saturation dives.

¹Behavioral Sciences Department, U.S. Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20014, USA.

Undersea Biomedical Research

|December 1, 1976

Summary

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Navy saturation divers experienced mostly knee pain from decompression sickness, often under pressure. Current recompression treatments provided limited relief, suggesting a need for new therapeutic approaches.

Area of Science:

Physiology
Diving Medicine
Occupational Health

Background:

Saturation diving involves prolonged exposure to increased ambient pressure.
Decompression sickness (DCS) is a risk associated with pressure changes.
Current DCS treatment protocols may be inadequate for saturation diving scenarios.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate the effectiveness of current DCS treatment procedures in saturation divers.
To identify factors contributing to DCS during saturation dives.
To explore limitations of existing recompression therapies.

Main Methods:

Analysis of available U.S. Navy saturation diving data.
Review of DCS case occurrences, symptoms, and treatment outcomes.
Correlation of symptom onset depth and recompression ratios with treatment efficacy.

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Main Results:

DCS in saturation divers primarily manifested as musculoskeletal or joint pain, predominantly in the knees (96%).
Symptoms often appeared while divers were still under pressure (89%).
Full pain relief was achieved in only 35% of treated cases, with residual pain common.

Conclusions:

Existing recompression strategies are often insufficient for treating DCS in saturation divers.
Factors like increased pain, psychological pressure, and lack of severe symptoms influence treatment decisions.
Future DCS treatments may require a paradigm shift away from solely increasing pressure to reduce bubble volume.