Decompression sickness (abbreviated DCS; also called divers disease, the bends, aerobullosis, and caisson disease) is a medical condition caused by dissolved gases emerging from solution as bubbles inside the body tissues during decompression. DCS most commonly occurs during or soon after a decompression ascent from underwater diving, but can also result from other causes of depressurisation, such as emerging from a caisson, decompression from saturation, flying in an unpressurised aircraft at high altitude, and extravehicular activity from spacecraft. DCS and arterial gas embolism are collectively referred to as decompression illness. Since bubbles can form in or migrate to any part of the body, DCS can produce many symptoms, and its effects may vary from joint pain and rashes to paralysis and death. DCS often causes air bubbles to settle in major joints like knees or elbows, causing individuals to bend over in excruciating pain, hence its common name, the bends. Individual susceptibility can vary from day to day, and different individuals under the same conditions may be affected differently or not at all. The classification of types of DCS according to symptoms has evolved since its original description in the 19th century. The severity of symptoms varies from barely noticeable to rapidly fatal. The risk of DCS caused by diving can be managed through proper decompression procedures, and contracting the condition has become uncommon. Its potential severity has driven much research to prevent it, and divers almost universally use dive tables or dive computers to limit their exposure and to monitor their ascent speed.
Modern reptiles are susceptible to DCS, and there is some evidence that marine mammals such as cetaceans and seals may also be affected. AW Carlsen has suggested that the presence of a right-left shunt in the reptilian heart may account for the predisposition in the same way as a patent foramen ovale does in humans. Footnotes
See also
Decompression (diving) – Adjusting to pressure changes in ascents
Decompression illness – Disorders arising from ambient pressure reduction
Decompression theory – Theoretical modelling of decompression physiology
Diving disorders – Physiological disorders resulting from underwater diving
Inner ear decompression sickness – Medical condition caused by inert gas bubbles forming out of solution
Taravana – Decompression sickness after breath-hold diving

Notes
1. ^a  autochthonous: formed or originating in the place where found. References
Bibliography
External links

Divers Alert Network: diving medicine articles Archived 8 December 2005 at the Wayback Machine
Dive Tables from the NOAA
CDC – Decompression Sickness and Tunnel Workers – NIOSH Workplace Safety and Health Topic
Pathophysiology of decompression and acute dysbaric disorders
"Decompression Sickness" on Medscape