Effects of addition of nitrogen during rapid compression of baboons

A series of dives was carried out to depths of 600 and 800 m seawater (msw) using baboons (Papio papio). Experiments were designed to study the effects of compression and the use of a He-N2-O2 gas mixture on high-pressure nervous syndrome (HPNS). When N2 was added to the He-O2 mixture at the beginning of a linear compression (200 msw/h), the symptoms associated with HPNS were still seen; in addition, the electroencephalogram (EEG) changes were more severe than those seen without N2. By use of an identical mixture, a 2-h exponential compression to 600 msw produced less severe signs of HPNS than the nonexponential profile. By use of a 2-h exponential compression to 600 msw and with addition of N2 at the end of compression, the HPNS that had been started under the He-O2 mixture decreased. Progressive addition of N2 during compression reduced the behavioral signs of HPNS without further EEG changes. These results show that the action of N2 is more complex than can be explained by a simple narcotic pressure antagonism and that the HPNS differed according to the gas mixture used.