decompression sickness

decompression sickness

n.

A disorder caused by the formation of nitrogen bubbles in the blood and tissues following a sudden drop in the surrounding pressure and characterized by joint pain, skin irritation, cramps, numbness, and, in severe cases, paralysis. It occurs especially in deep-sea divers when ascending rapidly from a dive. Decompression sickness is often called "the bends."

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

decompression sickness

or

decompresssion illness

n

(Pathology) a disorder characterized by severe pain in muscles and joints, cramp, and difficulty in breathing, caused by a sudden and sustained decrease in air pressure, resulting in the deposition of nitrogen bubbles in the tissues. Also called: caisson disease or aeroembolism Nontechnical name: the bends

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

decompres′sion sick`ness

n.

an acute disorder involving the formation of nitrogen bubbles in the body fluids, caused by a sudden drop in external pressure, as during a too-rapid ascent from diving, and resulting in pain in the lungs and joints and faintness.

[1940–45]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

decompression sickness

A syndrome, including bends, chokes, neurological disturbances, and collapse, resulting from exposure to reduced ambient pressure and caused by gas bubbles in the tissues, fluids, and blood vessels.

Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. US Department of Defense 2005.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

decompression sickness - pain resulting from rapid change in pressure bends, caisson disease, gas embolism, aeroembolism, air embolism illness, sickness, unwellness, malady - impairment of normal physiological function affecting part or all of an organism

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