Direct ascent from shallow air saturation exposures

Thirty-four healthy human subjects were exposed to shallow air saturation for 48 h [1.77 ATA (25.5 fsw) n = 19, 1.89 ATA (29.5 fsw) n = 15] and then decompressed to 1 ATA (0 fsw) in about 2 min. Symptoms included fatigue, limb and joint pain, headache, myalgias, and pruritus. No subject of 19 was diagnosed as having decompression sickness (DCS) after the shallower exposure, but 4 of 15 were diagnosed and treated for DCS subsequent to the deeper exposure. Almost all subjects in both groups had Doppler-detectable venous gas emboli (VGE) lasting up to 12 h postdecompression. Treated subjects had a recurrence of VGE several hours after the hyperbaric oxygen treatment. Only the duration of VGE, and not the VGE score, correlated with symptoms; and only the subjects body weight and age correlated with the VGE variables. This study indicates that hyperbaric air exposures of this magnitude are not as benign as previously thought.