WMI asks: what are signs and symptoms of decompression sickness (“The Bends”)?

This question was posed earlier over at the Wilderness Medicine Institute’s Facebook page. Here is the answer.

Decompression sickness is an accumulation of expanding nitrogen bubbles in tissues causing a variety of signs and symptoms that may occasionally be life-threatening.

Signs and Symptoms
Onset of signs and symptoms may be delayed for hours:
• Dull joint pain
• Low back pain
• Lower extremity paralysis or numbness
• Bladder/bowel dysfunction
• Itchy, mottled skin
• Central Nervous System changes

Treatment Principles
1. Administer oxygen, if available.
2. Don’t fly. Changes in elevation can complicate the condition.
3. Evacuate any patient who shows sins and symptoms of “the Bends.”
4. Recompress.

Divers’ Alert Network (DAN) Emergency hotline: (9i9)-684-8111

© Wilderness Medicine Handbook 2010 Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS. All rights reserved.