Caisson Disease - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition caisson-disease

Definition :

A disease frequently induced by remaining for some time in an atmosphere of high pressure as in caissons diving bells etc It is characterized by neuralgic pains and paralytic symptoms It is caused by the release of bubbles of gas usually nitrogen from bodily fluids into the blood and tissues when a person having been in an environment with high air pressure moves to a lower pressure environment too rapidly for the excess dissolved gases to be released through normal breathing It may be fatal but can be reversed or alleviated by returning the affected person to a high air pressure and then gradually decreasing the pressure to allow the gases to be released from the body fluids It is a danger well known to divers It is also called the bends and decompression sickness It can be prevented in divers by a slow return to normal pressure or by using a breathing mixture of oxygen combined with a gas having low solubility in water such as helium