A New Measure of Decompression Sickness in the Rat

Abstract EN

In this study we assessed the reliability of a tilting-board grip score as a measure of decompression sickness in rats.

In experiments using a hyperbaric compression/decompression protocol, rats were observed for signs of decompression sickness and their grip strength measured on a tilting particle board hinged to a metal frame.

Angles at which rats lost grip were converted to gravitational vectors.

Decreased mean grip scores following decompression were fitted to a logistic regression model with strain, age, and weight.

Decrease in grip score was significantly associated with observed decompression sickness (P=0.0036).

The log odds ratio for decompression sickness = 1.40 (decrease in grip score).

In rats with no decrease in mean grip score there was a 50% probability of decompression sickness (pDCS).

This increased steadily with decreases in mean grip score.

A decrease of 0.3 had a 60% pDCS, a decrease of 0.6 had a 70% pDCS, and a decrease of 2.1 had a 95% pDCS.

The tilting board grip score is a reliable measure of the probability of decompression sickness.