Decompression Illness: Clinical Aspects of 5278 Consecutive Cases Treated in a Single Hyperbaric Unit
نویسندگان
چکیده
BACKGROUND Decompression illness (DCI) is a major concern in pressure-related activities. Due to its specific prerequisite conditions, DCI is rare in comparison with other illnesses and most physicians are inexperienced in treatment. In a fishery area in northern China, during the past decade, tens of thousands of divers engaged in seafood harvesting and thousands suffered from DCI. We established a hyperbaric facility there and treated the majority of the cases. METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 5,278 DCI cases were admitted in our facility from February 2000 through December 2010 and treated using our recompression schedules. Cutaneous abnormalities, joint and muscular pain and neurological manifestations were three most common symptoms. The initial symptom occurred within 6 h after surfacing in 98.9% of cases, with an overall median latency of 62 min. The shorter the latent time, the more serious the symptoms would be (P<0.0001). Nine cases died before recompression and 5,269 were treated using four recompression schedules, with an overall effectiveness rate of 99.3%. The full recovery rate decreased with the increase of the delay from the onset of symptoms to the treatment (P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS DCI presents specific occurrence rules. Recompression should be administered as soon as possible and should never be abandoned irrespective of the delay. The recompression schedules used were effective and flexible for variety conditions of DCI.
منابع مشابه
The monoplace hyperbaric chamber and management of decompression illness.
Three cases of decompression illness are reported. Two patients presented with joint pain and skin signs, while one patient presented with joint pain and neurological signs and symptoms. The patients received emergency recompression therapy in a Hong Kong clinic, using a monoplace hyperbaric chamber. All three patients were treated successfully and no residual signs or symptoms were evident on ...
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Hyperbaric chamber attendant safety II: 14-year health review of multiplace chamber attendants.
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عنوان ژورنال:
دوره 7 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2012