Purpose: Since non-provocative dive profiles are no guarantor of protection against decompression sickness, novel means including pre-dive “preconditioning” interventions, are proposed for its prevention. This study investigated and compared the effect of pre-dive oxygenation, pre-dive whole body vibration or a combination of both on post-dive bubble formation.

The sites for formation of microbubbles that are routinely detected precordially by Doppler after a decompression are still a matter of debate. Firstly, microbubbles could form on the endothelial wall of capillaries, at specific nanometric sites, but the release mechanism of such small emerging entities remains puzzling.

Introduction: Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO₂) therapy and use of enriched air can result in oxidative injury affecting the brain, lungs and eyes. HBO₂ exposure during diving can lead to a decrease in respiratory parameters. However, the possible effects of acute exposure to oxygen-enriched diving on subsequent spirometric performance and oxidative state in humans have not been recently described recently. We aim to investigate possible effects of acute (i) hyperbaric and (ii) hyperbaric hyperoxic exposure using scuba or closed-circuit rebreather (CCR) on subsequent spirometry and to assess the role of oxidative state after hyperoxic diving.

IPAVA RECRUITMENT CAN'T BE RESPONSIBLE FOR DECOMPRESSION SICKNESS WITHOUT EVIDENCE OF ARTERIALIZED MICROBUBBLES!

This publication of the proceedings of “The Future of Diving: 100 Years of Haldane and Beyond” is co-sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and Trondheim University. The symposium was convened by the Baromedical and Environmental Physiology Group of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway, on 18–19 December 2008.