HIGH PRESSURE DIVING NERVOUS SYNDROME

Course overview

HIGH-PRESSURE NERVOUS SYNDROME OR HIGH-PRESSURE NEUROLOGICAL SYNDROME (HPNS) IS CHARACTERIZED BY NEUROLOGICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC (EEG) ABNORMALITIES THAT ARE NOTED DURING DIVES DEEPER THAN 150 METERS THAT INVOLVE BREATHING HELIUM-OXYGEN GAS MIXTURES. SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS DEPEND ON THE SPEED OF COMPRESSION AND THE HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE ATTAINED; THE FASTER THE RATE OF COMPRESSION RATE AND THE HIGHER THE PRESSURE, THE MORE SEVERE THE CLINICAL PRESENTATION WILL BE. THUS, HPNS IS ONE OF THE SIGNIFICANT LIMITATIONS OF DEEP DIVING. THIS ACTIVITY REVIEWS THE EVALUATION AND MANAGEMENT OF HPNS AND EXPLAINS THE ROLE OF THE INTERPROFESSIONAL TEAM IN MANAGING PATIENTS WITH THIS CONDITION.