Decompression sickness incidence over 63 months of hypobaric chamber operation.
U.S. Army hypobaric chamber operations over a 63-month period were retrospectively reviewed, and incidence rates for decompression sickness were calculated. The overall incidence rate was 1.38/1000 exposures. The rate for interior technicians monitoring chamber operations was 6.16/1000 exposures. The rate for students was 0.64/1000 exposures. The increased incidence of decompression sickness for technicians was especially pronounced for the 10,668-m and 13,106-m flight profiles. Rapid decompression after the 7,620-m flight profile did not appear to increase the incidence of decompression sickness.
D000531:Altitude; D001273:Atmosphere Exposure Chambers; D003665:Decompression Sickness / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012306:Risk; D014481:United States