SYDNEY, Australia (23 Mar 2002) -- A simple new diagnosis for bends could save lives and a lot of money. According to research by Dr. Michael Bennett of the University of New South Wales Faculty of Medicine and Department of Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine, doctors may soon be able to perform a simple, quick and accurate examination for decompression illness anywhere including remote regions where dive travelers are often found. Currently, divers who become ill in remote destinations still must be evacuated at great expense to hospitals with specialized equipment and doctors trained in hyperbaric medicine who can diagnose whether a patient actually has the bends. Dr. Bennett's medical breakthrough may change all of that. "Our research may result in a test for the bends that can be done by any doctor, anywhere," he explained. Dr. Bennett has found that divers usually have between one and three tiny air bubbles in the fluid that lubricates the eyeball. The bubbles can be found in the ocular tear film in the lower eyelid. Divers who have the bends often have between 20 and 30 bubbles in the fluid. | | Measuring the number of bubbles in a patient's eye in just one part of an overall diagnostic procedure that Dr. Bennett hopes will enable doctors in remote areas to accurately examine divers for decompression illness without having to initiate emergency evacuation procedures. "With these studies we have established for the first time the presence of an increased number of bubbles in the lower tear film meniscus following compressed air breathing in the marine environment," said Dr. Bennett. "We hope that a remote doctor, suspicious that a patient may have the bends, will be able to do a simple, inexpensive examination of the patient's tear film (and) based on the number of air bubbles they will then be able to make a decision on whether the patient needs to be flown out for further treatment." © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORK |
