A condition occurring as a result of exposure to a rapid fall in ambient pressure. Gases, nitrogen in particular, come out of solution and form bubbles in body fluid and blood. These gas bubbles accumulate in joint spaces and the peripheral circulation impairing tissue oxygenation causing disorientation, severe pain, and potentially death.
    

concept

Decompression Sickness

Catalogue

Compressed air illness, or, So-called caisson disease / by E. Hugh Snell.

Decompression sickness during construction of the Dartford Tunnel / by F. Campbell Golding [and others].

Use of exotic gases for the study of compression sickness / S. Daniels, W.D.M. Paton and E.B. Smith.

Medical aspects of compressed air illness / by W.D.M. Paton.

Ultrasonic imaging system for the study of decompression-induced gas bubbles / S. Daniels, W.D.M. Paton, and E.B. Smith.