Ce plongeur a effectué quatre plongées à air, s'approchant des limites de son ordinateur de plongée, mais effectuant des paliers de sécurité de 3 minutes. Après deux jours, le plongeur a souffert d'un accident de décompression cutané, s'est fait soigner et a cessé de plonger.
Récit Rapporté
Un plongeur américain (46 ans) est parti en vacances de plongée à Cozumel. Il a effectué quatre plongées en deux jours, toutes à l'air, avec des profondeurs maximales allant de 15 m (51 pieds) à 27 m (89 pieds), et des durées de plongée totaux d'un peu plus d'une heure, y compris des paliers de sécurité de 3 minutes à la fin de chaque plongée. Il n'a ressenti aucun symptôme après le premier jour et est allé dîner. Plus tard dans la nuit, il s'est levé pour aller uriner à 23 h 30 et a ressenti une douleur dans les côtes, mais il a mis cela sur le compte d'une mauvaises position sur son oreiller. Il s'est recouché et s'est senti bien le matin, il a donc effectué deux plongées supplémentaires. La douleur est réapparue de manière perceptible environ une heure après être remonté à la surface après la dernière plongée, mais cette fois-ci, il a senti une légère brûlure/irritation et il a remarqué une éruption cutanée sur son torse (voir la photo). Le plongeur avait lu une étude de cas sur la maladie de décompression cutanée dans le magazine Alert Diver et se souvenait de l'éruption cutanée. Il s'est rendu au magasin de plongée, qui lui a fourni de l'oxygène, et après quelques minutes, l'éruption cutanée a presque disparu et la douleur s'est atténuée.
By now convinced this appeared to be a case of skin bends, the diver went to the hospital and was assessed by a DAN-affiliated medical doctor who confirmed the diagnosis. The doctor conducted a neurological exam to rule out more serious signs of decompression sickness then advised the diver to not dive again before flying home. Two days later the rash and soreness returned so the diver once again saw the DAN doctor and this time was given more oxygen, plus he was hydrated with an IV. The rash dissipated, the soreness resolved and the diver flew back to America where he is now recovering (some residual soreness remains).
He writes “I will be apprehensive the next time I dive – but I am planning to use only nitrox and stay away from the limits of my computer. After 25 years of diving, I guess I am finally getting old!”
Comentario
“After 25 years of diving…” I know there are many divers in the same boat and this case serves to remind us that decompression sickness does not always have a clear cause. In this particular case, the diver seems to have made all the right decisions. First, he was a member of DAN and recognized his injury from reading Alert Diver. Next, he accepted oxygen at the dive shop, then sought out medical advice from a doctor familiar with diving medicine. Then he took it easy and didn’t dive again, (even though he wanted to). Finally, he returned home and reported the incident to DAN so others might learn from it.
The good news is that in all likelihood he will soon have recovered fully and can file this away with his other diving stories. If, for some reason, symptoms persist then a quick call to the DAN Medical Helpline on +1-919-684-2948 is all it takes to find the nearest diving doctor.
While many divers trust their dive computers completely, the fact is that no dive computer knows who is wearing it, they all simply estimate no-stop limits based on a theory, and that theory may have been tested on people who were physically different to the diver wearing the computer today. Although probably none of us like to admit it, the average diver is not as young as we all once were and this diver’s plan to dive more conservatively sounds like a prudent approach for avoiding another uncomfortable and inconvenient skin bend.
Peter Buzzacott, MPH, Ph.D.