Decompression Sickness Quiz
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Reviewed By:
Maxwell J. Nanes, DO (Emergency department)
Dr Nanes received a doctorate from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and went on to complete a residency in emergency medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. There he trained at Froedtert Hospital and Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in the practice of adult and pediatric emergency medicine. He was a chief resident and received numerous awards for teaching excellence during his time there. | | After residency he took a job at a community hospital where he and his colleagues worked through the toughest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. |
Yoshinori Abe, MD (Internal medicine)
Dr. Abe graduated from The University of Tokyo School of Medicine in 2015. He completed his residency at the Tokyo Metropolitan Health and Longevity Medical Center. He co-founded Ubie, Inc. in May 2017, where he currently serves as CEO & product owner at Ubie. Since December 2019, he has been a member of the Special Committee for Activation of Research in Emergency AI of the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine. | | Dr. Abe has been elected in the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia Healthcare & Science category.
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Learn more about Decompression sickness
Content updated on Sep 20, 2022
What is decompression sickness?
Decompression sickness (also called "the bends") refers to problems caused by rapid decrease in the surrounding pressure (either air or water). This causes gases to shift dangerously out of the blood stream. It most commonly occurs during scuba-diving, when rising to the surface happens too quickly. Rarely, it can happen in airplanes, typically in military pilots travelling at high rates of speed through upper and lower atmosphere layers.
Symptoms of decompression sickness
Muscle pain
Joint pain even when resting
Joint pain
Pain across the entire body
Knee pain
Pain in the knuckles or finger joints
Thigh pain
Elbow pain
Questions your doctor may ask to check for decompression sickness
Your doctor may ask these questions to diagnose decompression sickness
Do you have any muscle pain?
Do you have joint pain even when you are at rest?
Do you have any joint pain?
Do you have pain all over the body?
Do you have pain in the knee(s)
Treatment for decompression sickness
Emergency treatment for decompression sickness involves maintaining blood pressure, administering oxygen and fluids. The person should be placed on their left side with the head of the bed tilted down. Hyperbaric oxygen chambers are often used to drive the unwanted gases back into the bloodstream.
View the symptoms of Decompression sickness
Diseases related to Decompression sickness
References
Sun Q, Gao G. Decompression Sickness. N Engl J Med. 2017 Oct 19;377(16):1568. doi: 10.1056/NEJMicm1615505. PMID: 29045210.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMicm1615505
Mahon RT, Regis DP. Decompression and decompression sickness. Compr Physiol. 2014 Jul;4(3):1157-75. doi: 10.1002/cphy.c130039. PMID: 24944033.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cphy.c130039
Reviewed By:
Maxwell J. Nanes, DO (Emergency department)
Dr Nanes received a doctorate from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and went on to complete a residency in emergency medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. There he trained at Froedtert Hospital and Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in the practice of adult and pediatric emergency medicine. He was a chief resident and received numerous awards for teaching excellence during his time there. | | After residency he took a job at a community hospital where he and his colleagues worked through the toughest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. |
Yoshinori Abe, MD (Internal medicine)
Dr. Abe graduated from The University of Tokyo School of Medicine in 2015. He completed his residency at the Tokyo Metropolitan Health and Longevity Medical Center. He co-founded Ubie, Inc. in May 2017, where he currently serves as CEO & product owner at Ubie. Since December 2019, he has been a member of the Special Committee for Activation of Research in Emergency AI of the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine. | | Dr. Abe has been elected in the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia Healthcare & Science category.
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Seiji Kanazawa, MD, PHD
Obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYN)
National Center for Child Health and Development, Japan