Divers' pulmonary function after open-sea bounce dives to 10 and 50 meters
Skogstad, M.; Thorsen, E.; Haldorsen, T.; Melbostad, E.; Tynes, T.; Westrum, B.
Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine Journal of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society Inc 23(2): 71-75
1996
ISSN/ISBN: 1066-2936 PMID: 8840474 Document Number: 468401
Divers' pulmonary function after open-sea bounce dives to 10 and 50 meters. Undersea Hyperbaric Mod 1996; 23(2):71-75.-We have studied pulmonary function before and 2 h after open sea dives to 10 and 50 m and 24 h after the dive to 10 m. Nine trainee divers participated in the dive to 10 m and 17 in the dive to 50 m. Mean time in water was 53 (32-62) min for the 10-m dive and 38 (26-76) min for the 50-m dive. Assessment of lung function included dynamic lung volumes and flows and transfer factor for carbon monoxide (Tl-CO). There were significant reductions (P lt 0.05) in forced vital capacity of 5.8% (SD = 3.9) and 1.8% (SD = 2.8), in forced expired volume in 1 s of 6.6% (SD = 3.5) and 2.7% (SD = 2.4), in forced mid-expiratory flow rate of 10.3% (SD = 7.8) and 5.2% (SD = 6.5), and in Tl-CO of 11.3% (SD = 7.9) and 12.8% (SD = 5.9) 2 h after the 10- and 50-m dive, respectively. Our results indicate that factors related to submersion and increased breathing resistance contribute to changes in pulmonary function in the first hours after open-sea bounce dives.