Citation

Boussuges A, Thirion X, Blanc P, Molénat F, Sainty JM. Undersea Hyperb. Med. 1996; 23(3): 151-155.

Affiliation

Réanimation Médicale et Hyperbare, Hospital Salvator, Marseille, France.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8931282

Abstract

Treatment of neurologic decompression accidents consists of various hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) protocols. To facilitate such comparisons between different protocols we developed a gravity score. A group of 96 divers was used to establish the score. On admission we first identified signs and symptoms that had possible predictive value (chi 2 test). The parameters included were repetitive dive, clinical course before HBO, objective sensory disorder, motor impairment, and urinary disturbances. Each parameter was assigned a coefficient. The sum of the coefficients for each accident, based on the most severe manifestations before decompression therapy, yielded a score for each diver. A multivariate analysis was used to evaluate the overall agreement between the model prediction and clinical observations, which was 78.7%. A second group (66 divers) was used to validate the score; this group showed a significant difference in the gravity score between the divers who had sequelae and those who did not (P = 0.0001), and between the divers who had incapacitating sequelae and those who had mild sequelae (P = 0.04). Eighty-six percent of the divers with a score above 7 developed sequelae. This index remains to be validated in a prospective multicenter study. If endorsed, valid comparisons can be made between the different therapeutic protocols.

Language: en