Dysbaric osteonecrosis in experienced dive masters and instructors

Introduction: Dysbaric osteonecrosis (DON) is a type of aseptic bone necrosis of long bones such as the humerus, femur, and tibia. It is observed in workers who perform in high-pressure environments. Methods: There were 58 volunteer divers included in this study who had performed at least 500 dives, were working as a dive master or instructor, had never performed industrial and commercial dives, and did not have a diagnosis of osteonecrosis. Radiological evaluation was performed according to the guidelines suggested by The British Research Council Decompression Sickness Panel. A total of eight X-rays were taken per patient. When suspicious lesions were detected, MRI of the region was performed. Results: Of the 58 divers, 2 were eliminated because of inadequate X-ray studies. A total of 18 DON lesions were detected in 14 of 56 (25%) divers. Age was the only variable independently associated with the development of DON (P < 0.05). Discussion: The DON prevalence of 25% in this study is high considering the dive instructors had thorough diving training and strictly practiced the decompression rules. We believe this high prevalence is a result of frequent and sometimes deep dives for many years. Our findings raise the question of whether these divers can be seen as "sports divers" or should be seen as "occupational divers." if the latter description is approved, dive masters and instructors should be kept under periodic screening for DON lesions just like professional commercial divers to help reduce the morbidity associated with this disease

Hyperbaric oxygen treatment reduces carrageenan-induced acute inflammation in rats

The present study was designed to assess the anti-inflammatory activity of hyperbaric oxygen treatment by comparing it with that of diclofenac, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, and also to investigate whether hyperbaric oxygen treatment enhances the anti-inflammatory effect of diclofenac in carrageenan-induced paw edema which is commonly employed as an acute inflammation model in rats. Hyperbaric oxygen treatment and diclofenac (20 mg/kg) markedly reduced the carrageenan-induced paw edema in rats. In other words, they displayed anti-inflammatory activity. On the other hand, hyperbaric oxygen treatment did not consistently modify the anti-inflammatory effect of diclofenac in this model. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

Antidepressant-like effect of hyperbaric oxygen treatment in forced-swimming test in rats

The present study was undertaken to assess the antidepressant-like activity of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatment and also to investigate whether in the forced-swimming test HBO treatment interacts with the antidepressant effects of fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, and imipramine, which is mainly a noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor. HBO treatment (at 2.4 atmospheres absolute [ATA] for 60 min) significantly reduced the immobility time in this test; in other words, it displayed antidepressant-like activity. The coadministration of HBO with fluoxetine (5 mg/kg) or imipramine (5 mg/kg) at their ineffective doses produced greater inhibition of immobility time compared with HBO alone. In conclusion, HBO treatment might be an alternative approach to antidepressant therapy, alone or in combination with antidepressant drugs. (c) 2005 Prous Science. All rights reserved

Obstructive jaundice due to a textiloma mimicking a common bile duct stone

A foreign body is a rare cause of obstructive jaundice. We report a 19-year-old woman with jaundice caused by a surgical gauze in the common bile duct (CBD). Four yours earlier, she had undergone a cholecystectomy and drainage for hydatid disease of the liver. Her postoperative course was complicated by a biliary fistula that healed after 50 days. She now presented with obstructive jaundice of 2 weeks' duration. Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) showed a signal-void mass, consistent with a CBD stone. Surgical exploration of the CBD revealed a surgical gauze as the cause of the obstruction. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of a surgical gauze obstructing the CBD requiring surgical removal

The effect of hyperbaric oxygenation on the in vitro growth of Escherichia coli in environments with and without blood cells

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the in vitro presence of blood cells influences the anti-microbial activity of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) against Escherichia coli. Fifty E. coli isolates from clinical samples were used in the study. A small number of colonies belonging to each isolate from the nutrient media were transferred into two K(3)EDTA tubes (the blood group) and two Mueller-Hinton broth tubes (the broth group). Then, both groups were divided into subgroups according to whether HBO was administered (HBO subgroup) or not (non-HBO subgroup). HBO treatment was applied for one hour at 2.5 absolute atmospheres. The tubes in the non-HBO subgroup were left at room temperature during this period. Subsequently, all the tubes were cultured on Mueller-Hinton and Eosin Methylene Blue agar using the quantitative counting technique. After 18 to 24 h incubation at 37 degrees C, the colonies formed in the plates were counted. In the blood group, compared with non-HBO subgroup samples, the number of colonies decreased in 56% of samples, increased in 32% of samples and did not change in 12% of samples in the HBO subgroup. Whereas, in the broth group the number of colonies decreased in only 32% of samples increased in 38% of samples and did not change in 30% of samples in the HBO subgroup compared with the non-HBO subgroup. The difference between the blood and the broth groups revealed a statistical significance using Pearson's Chi-square test (P = 0.025). We concluded that the antibacterial effect of HBO on E. coli increases in the cellular environment belonging to the host organism