What Researchers Did
Researchers compared the number of venous gas bubbles observed after short, deep and shallow, long air dives performed dry in a hyperbaric chamber versus actual dives in open water.
What They Found
Following shallow dives, bubbles increased from 0.1 bubbles per cm² after dry dives to 1.4 bubbles per cm² after wet dives. For deep dives, bubbles increased from 0.1 bubbles per cm² in dry dives to 2.4 bubbles per cm² in wet dives. Both results were highly significant (P = 0.0001 or less), indicating significantly more gas bubble formation after diving in water.
What This Means for Canadian Patients
Divers should be aware that actual water dives may lead to significantly more gas bubble formation than simulated dry dives. This suggests that current decompression procedures might need re-evaluation to account for the increased bubble risk in real-world diving conditions.
Canadian Relevance
This study has no direct Canadian connection.
Study Limitations
The study involved a small sample of experienced male divers and specific dive profiles, which may limit generalizability to other populations or dive conditions.