Enhancement of Preoxygenation for Decompression Sickness Protection: Effect of Exercise Duration

摘要

Since strenuous exercise for 10 during preoxygenation was shown to provide better protection from decompression sickness (DCS) incidence than resting preoxygenation, a logical question was: would a longer period of strenuous exercise improve protection even further. Increased strenuous exercise duration during preoxygenation increases DCS protection. There were y0 subjects, 30 men and 30 women, who were exposed to 9,144 m (4.3 psia) for 4-h while performing mild, upper body exercise. Before the exposures, each subject performed 3 preoxygenation profiles on different days in balanced order: a 90- min resting preoxygenation control; a 240-min resting preoxygenation control; and a 90-min preoxygenation including exercise during the first 15 min. The subjects were monitored at altitude for venous gas emboli (VGE) with an echo- imaging system and observed for signs and symptoms of DCS. There were no significant differences in occurrence of DCS following any of the 3 preoxygenation procedures. Results were also comparable to an earlier report of 42% DCS with a 60-min preoxygenation including a 10-min exercise. There was no difference between VGE incidence in the comparison of protection offered by a 90-min preoxygenation with or without 15 min of strenuous exercise. The DCS incidence following a 240-min resting preoxygenation, 40%, was higher than observed during NASA studies and nearly identical with the earlier 42% DCS after a 60-min preoxygenation including exercise during the first 10 min. Conclusion: The protection offered by a 10 min exercise in a 60-min preoxygenation was not increased with extension of the preoxygenation exercise period to 15 min in a 90-min reoxygenation, indicating an upper time limit to the beneficial effects of strenuous exercise.