Treatment of Decompression Sickness in Swine with Intravenous Perfluorocarbon Emulsion
Background: We examined an adjunctive treatment for severe decompression sickness (DCS) to be used when hyperbaric treatment is delayed or unavailable. Hypothesis: It has been hypothesized that intravenous perfluorocarbon (PFC) emulsion combined with 100% inspired O 2 would improve the outcome in severe DCS. Methods: Swine (n = 45) were compressed to 4.9 ATA on air for 22 h and brought directly to 1 ATA at 0.9 ATA · min -1. The animals were then randomized to three groups. The first group breathed ambient air, the second group breathed 100% O 2, and a third group received 6 ml · kg -1 of perflubron emulsion (Oxygen™) intravenously and breathed 100% O 2. Outcomes of neurological and cardiopulmonary DCS and death were recorded. Results: Animals that received PFC emulsion sustained less DCS (p < 0.01) than the other groups (53% vs. 93%). No animals in the PFC group sustained neurological DCS, which was present in 69% of the subjects in the other two groups. Conclusion: O 2 breathing postdive did not significantly reduce morbidity or mortality in this model. Postdive treatment with PFC emulsion and 100% O 2 decreased the incidence of DCS after nonstop decompression from saturation.
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Related Subject Headings
- Physiology
- 1117 Public Health and Health Services
- 1116 Medical Physiology
- 1106 Human Movement and Sports Sciences
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Published In
ISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Related Subject Headings
- Physiology
- 1117 Public Health and Health Services
- 1116 Medical Physiology
- 1106 Human Movement and Sports Sciences