Rapid Decompressions Research Articles

Urinary catheterization and techniques for preventing hematuria: integrative review

Objective: Analyze and synthesize the available scientific evidence on urinary catheterization and techniques used to prevent hematuria in bladder emptying and acute and chronic urinary retention in adults and the elderly. Methods: This integrative review was carried out in the PubMed, LILACS, Embase, Cochrane, Web of Science, and Scopus databases. Hand searching was used in the reference lists of included studies. An unlimited period was used to review the studies published in Portuguese, English, French, German, and Spanish. The PICOS strategy was applied to develop the research question and the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) instrument was used to assess the methodological quality of studies. Results: Eleven studies were included, with a total of 659 patients. Urinary retention occurred mainly in men and the main cause was benign prostatic hyperplasia. Rapid and gradual decompressions were the techniques used for bladder decompression by urinary catheterization, and hematuria and hypotension were the main complications regardless of the technique. The results showed that there was no significant difference between the two techniques in terms of the outcome of hematuria prevention. Conclusion: Gradual bladder emptying does not prevent hematuria compared to rapid and complete emptying. Case reports describe clinical conditions that deserve attention when hematuria occurs after urinary catheterization and the respective implications in the treatment of patients. We highlight the importance of nursing in identifying and preventing the diagnosis of Urinary Retention to avoid subsequent interventions and clinical complications, including post-catheterization hematuria.

Extended lifetimes of bubbles at hyperbaric pressure may contribute to inner ear decompression sickness during saturation diving.

Inner ear decompression sickness (IEDCS) may occur after upward or downward excursions in saturation diving. Previous studies in nonsaturation diving strongly suggest that IEDCS is caused by arterialization of small venous bubbles across intracardiac or intrapulmonary right-to-left shunts and bubble growth through inward diffusion of supersaturated gas when they arrive in the inner ear. The present study used published saturation diving data and models of inner ear inert gas kinetics and bubble dynamics in arterial conditions to assess whether IEDCS after saturation excursions could also be explained by arterialization of venous bubbles and whether such bubbles might survive longer and be more likely to reach the inner ear under deep saturation diving conditions. Previous data show that saturation excursions produce venous bubbles. Modeling shows that gas supersaturation in the inner ear persists longer than in the brain after such excursions, explaining why the inner ear would be more vulnerable to injury by arriving bubbles. Estimated survival of arterialized bubbles is significantly prolonged at high ambient pressure such that bubbles large enough to be filtered by pulmonary capillaries but able to cross right-to-left shunts are more likely to survive transit to the inner ear than at the surface. IEDCS after saturation excursions is plausibly caused by arterialization of venous bubbles whose prolonged arterial survival at deep depths suggests that larger bubbles in greater numbers reach the inner ear.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Inner ear decompression sickness that occurs during deep saturation diving is explained by arterialization of venous bubbles across intracardiac or intrapulmonary right-to-left shunts and growth of these bubbles if they arrive in the inner ear. Bubbles in arterial blood have prolonged lifetimes at hyperbaric pressures compared with at sea level. This can explain why inner ear decompression sickness is more characteristic of rapid decompressions at great depths than of decompression at sea level.

Predicting hydraulic structure-induced barotrauma in Australian fish species

When fish pass downstream through river infrastructure, such as dams and weirs, barotrauma may occur as a result of rapid decompression. In severe cases, barotrauma may lead to mortality. Different species are likely to respond differently to these decompressions. Therefore, to predict barotrauma for a specific species, surrogate species may not be a valid approach, and it may be necessary to examine each species individually. For the present study, Australian bass and carp gudgeon were exposed to a range of rapid decompressions using hyper- and hypobaric hydro-chambers and examined for injuries and mortality. Rapid decompression data from these two fish species, in addition to previously examined Murray cod and silver perch, were evaluated to determine which injuries were highly associated with and likely to predict mortality. Dose–response logistic regression models were developed for each species to predict injury and mortality over a range of rapid decompressions. These models are valuable for estimating injury and mortality rates for fish passing though river infrastructure and can be applied to specific sites where pressure profiles have been developed. Applying these models to current and future infrastructure can provide important insight into what measures or design alterations may be necessary to reduce negative effects of infrastructure on fish populations.

An algebraic model of high-altitude aircraft decompression and emergency descent

An emergency descent maneuver initiated by pilots shortly after the onset of the decompression recognition was developed for subsonic, supersonic and hypersonic cruisers. Among other findings, the times when a passenger cabin is exposed to altitudes above 25,000 and 40,000 ft and the maximum cabin altitude reached are estimated. An airplane descent aerodynamic model was incorporated for high-speed and low-speed high-drag emergency descents. Airplane cabin atmosphere is assumed to be isothermal. The environmental atmosphere is simulated using the NLPAM nonlinear atmospheric model valid up to 47 geopotential kilometers. Rapid and slow decompressions at several discrete cruising altitudes ranging from 12 to 40 km and varying pilot reaction times in initiating the emergency descent were simulated. The main motivation for this work was to estimate times and altitudes a cabin reaches during depressurization for various flight conditions. This model can be utilized in optimizing the emergency-descent piloting techniques, calculating oxygen supplies, evaluating aeromedical factors, estimating harmful exposures to low pressures, and for other important high-altitude aircraft operations.

Gasdynamics of rapid and explosive decompressions of pressurized aircraft including active venting

In this paper, a zero-dimensional mathematical formulation for rapid and explosive decompression analyses of pressurized aircraft is developed. Air flows between two compartments and between the damaged compartment and external ambient are modeled by assuming an adiabatic, reversible transformation. Both supercritical and subcritical decompressions are considered, and the attention focuses on intercompartment venting systems. In particular, passive and active vents are addressed, and mathematical models of both swinging and translational blowout panels are provided. A numerical procedure based on an explicit Euler integration scheme is also discussed for multi-compartment aircraft analysis. Various numerical solutions are presented, which highlight the importance of considering the opening dynamics of blowout panels. The comparisons with the results from the literature demonstrate the validity of the proposed methodology, which can be also applied, with no lack of accuracy, to the decompression analysis of spacecraft.

US-Assisted Convective Drying of Biological Materials

The aim of this work is to promote ultrasound as an energy source that is suitable for the enhancement of drying processes, and in particular of biological materials. The study aims at a more profound recognition of the interaction between ultrasonic (US) waves and the tissues of fruits and vegetables, which may contribute to an intensification of moisture removal during their drying. Absorption of acoustic energy causes heating and structural changes of the drying material due to a series of rapid material compressions and decompressions. The research hypothesis is based on the expectation that the ultrasound waves may enhance moisture removal from the fruits and vegetables during drying due to a special “heating effect,” “vibration effect,” and “synergistic effect.” Convective ultrasonic-assisted drying tests were conducted experimentally on a new hybrid dryer with ultrasonic equipment, and the effects of ultrasonic enhancement by drying are presented based on a drying model and assessed numerically.

Lung Volumes, Pulmonary Ventilation, and Hypoxia Following Rapid Decompression to 60,000 ft (18,288 m)

Rapid decompressions (RD) to 60,000 ft (18,288 m) were undertaken by six subjects to provide evidence of satisfactory performance of a contemporary, partial pressure assembly life support system for the purposes of flight clearance. A total of 12 3-s RDs were conducted with subjects breathing 56% oxygen (balance nitrogen) at the base (simulated cabin) altitude of 22,500 ft (6858 m), switching to 100% oxygen under 72 mmHg (9.6 kPa) of positive pressure at the final (simulated aircraft) altitude. Respiratory pressures, flows, and gas compositions were monitored continuously throughout. All RDs were completed safely, but one subject experienced significant hypoxia during the minute at final altitude, associated with severe hemoglobin desaturation to a low of 53%. Accurate data on subjects' lung volumes were obtained and individual responses post-RD were reviewed in relation to patterns of pulmonary ventilation. The occurrence of severe hypoxia is explained by hypoventilation in conjunction with unusually large lung volumes (total lung capacity 10.18 L). Subjects' lung volumes and patterns of pulmonary ventilation are critical, but idiosyncratic, determinants of alveolar oxygenation and severity of hypoxia following RD to 60,000 ft (18,288 m). At such extreme altitudes even vaporization of water condensate in the oxygen mask may compromise oxygen delivery. An altitude ceiling of 60,000 ft (18,288 m) is the likely threshold for reliable protection using partial pressure assemblies and aircrew should be instructed to take two deep 'clearing' breaths immediately following RD at such extreme pressure breathing altitudes.

The effect of an externally attached neutrally buoyant transmitter on mortal injury during simulated hydroturbine passage

On their seaward migration, juvenile salmonids commonly pass hydroelectric dams. Fish passing through hydroturbines experience a rapid decrease in pressure as they pass by the turbine blade. The severity of this decompression can be highly variable but can result in injuries such as swim bladder rupture, exophthalmia, and emboli and hemorrhaging in the fins and tissues. Recent research indicates that the presence of a telemetry tag (acoustic, radio, inductive) implanted inside the coelom of a juvenile salmon increases the likelihood that the fish will be injured or die during turbine passage. Thus, previous turbine passage survival research conducted using telemetry tags implanted into the coelom of fish may have been inaccurate. Therefore, a new technique is needed to provide unbiased estimates of survival through turbines. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a neutrally buoyant externally attached acoustic transmitter on decompression-stressed juvenile Chinook salmon. Both nontagged fish and fish tagged with a neutrally buoyant external transmitter were exposed to a range of rapid decompressions simulating turbine passage. Juvenile Chinook salmon tagged with a neutrally buoyant externally attached acoustic transmitter did not experience a higher degree of barotrauma-induced injuries than their nontagged counterparts. We suggest that future research include field-based comparisons of survival and behavior among fish tagged with a neutrally buoyant external transmitter and those internally implanted with transmitters.

Disequilibrium Between Alveolar and End-Pulmonary-Capillary O2 Tension in Altitude Hypoxia and Respiratory Disease: An Update of a Mathematical Model of Human Respiration at Altitude

We have previously formulated and validated a mathematical model specifically designed to describe human respiratory behavior at altitude. In that model, we assumed equality of alveolar and end-pulmonary-capillary oxygen tensions. However, this equality may not hold true during rapid and prolonged changes to high altitudes producing severe hypoxia as can occur in aircraft cabin decompressions and in some respiratory diseases. We currently investigate this possibility by modifying our previous model to include the dynamics of oxygen exchange across the pulmonary capillary. The updated model was validated against limited experimental data on ventilation and gas tensions in various altitude-decompression scenarios. The updated model predicts that during rapid and sustained decompressions to high altitudes the disequilibrium of gas tensions between alveolar gas and capillary blood could be 10 Torr, or larger. Neglecting this effect underestimates the severity of a decompression and its potential to produce unconsciousness and subsequent brain damage. In light of these results, we also examined the effect of this disequilibrium on the diminished oxygen diffusion capacity that can occur in some respiratory diseases. We found that decreases in diffusion capacity which would have minimal effects at sea level produced significant disequilibrium of gas tensions and a large fall in hemoglobin oxygen saturation at a cabin altitude of 4000-8000 ft. As demonstrated, this new model could serve as an important tool to examine the important physiological consequences of decompression scenarios in aircraft and the pathophysiological situations in which the equilibrium of gas tensions along the pulmonary capillary are particularly critical.

Petrologic constraints on the decompression history of magma prior to Vulcanian explosions at the Soufrière Hills volcano, Montserrat

A series of 88 Vulcanian explosions occurred at the Soufrière Hills volcano, Montserrat, between August and October, 1997. Conduit conditions conducive to creating these and other Vulcanian explosions were explored via analysis of eruptive products and one-dimensional numerical modeling of magma ascent through a cylindrical conduit. The number densities and textures of plagioclase microlites were documented for twenty-three samples from the events. The natural samples all show very high number densities of microlites, and > 50% by number of microlites have areas < 20 μm 2. Pre-explosion conduit conditions and decompression history have been inferred from these data by comparison with experimental decompressions of similar groundmass compositions. Our comparisons suggest quench pressures < 30 MPa (origin depths < 2 km) and multiple rapid decompressions of > 13.75 MPa each during ascent from chamber to surface. Values are consistent with field studies of the same events and statistical analysis of explosion time-series data. The microlite volume number density trend with depth reveals an apparent transition from growth-dominated crystallization to nucleation-dominated crystallization at pressures of ∼ 7 MPa and lower. A concurrent sharp increase in bulk density marks the onset of significant open-system degassing, apparently due to a large increase in system permeability above ∼ 70% vesicularity. This open-system degassing results in a dense plug which eventually seals the conduit and forms conditions favorable to Vulcanian explosions. The corresponding inferred depth of overpressure at 250–700 m, near the base of the dense plug, is consistent with depth to center of pressure estimated from deformation measurements. Here we also illustrate that one-dimensional models representing ascent of a degassing, crystal-rich magma are broadly consistent with conduit profiles constructed via our petrologic analysis. The comparison between models and petrologic data suggests that the dense conduit plug forms as a result of high overpressure and open-system degassing through conduit walls.

Depressurization of fine powders in a shock tube and dynamics of fragmented magma in volcanic conduits

Samples of fine glass beads (mean grain size equal to 38 and 95 μm) have been depressurized within a vertical shock tube. These short-lived, rapid decompressions resemble discrete, cannon-like vulcanian explosions and produce two-phase flows that are inhomogeneous in density in both vertical and horizontal directions because of the presence of bubble-like heterogeneities. We suggest that also volcanic flows may present similar inhomogeneities in density. In the experimental apparatus the flow velocities increase from approximately 1 to 13 m/s when the pressure drop increases from approximately 200 to 900 mbar. A physical model of the initial velocities of expansions in the shock tube has been applied to a range of volcanic overpressures between 0.1 and 20 MPa, suggesting initial velocities of volcanic flows caused by the removal of a rock plug in volcanic conduits between 25 and 400 m/s. During the experiments at large pressure drops, as the mixture expands and moves up the tube, the flow front becomes highly irregular and bubble-like heterogeneities form. The shape of these bubbles becomes distorted and stretched in the turbulent flow. During the experiments at relatively small pressure drops, the sample oscillates when the particles, after the expansion, flow back and bounce upward again. Jets with diameter smaller than that of the tube are ejected from the oscillating samples generating independent pulses. Large bubble-like heterogeneities whose diameter is a significant fraction of the tube diameter can also discretize the flows. Similar mechanisms in real volcanoes may produce pulse-like ejections of gas–particle mixtures out of the vent.

Behaviour of thermoplastic polymers during explosive decompressions in a petroleum environment

Thermoplastic polymers are used in the field of petroleum where they may encounter very severe conditions. So we are induced to study the ageing behaviour and the effect of rapid decompressions in a gaseous environment. In the latter case our aim is to define the limits of use and to identify the parameters influencing degradations. Such damaging is essentially of two types: (1) local in the form of blisters and (2) under extreme conditions, more homogeneous microscopic damage of the «foaming» type. Damage of the blistering type may threaten the integrity of the polymer part, and the microscopic damage does not necesarily affect the mechanical behaviour, for example the impact strength

The effects of barometric pressure according to Paul Bert: the question today.

The scientific activity of Paul Bert was very diverse, but his main achievements concern the effects of barometric pressure upon life. The fundamental physiological effect of decreasing barometric pressure is due to the concomitant fall of the O2 partial pressure. The effects of lowering or raising the barometric pressure can be countered by increasing or decreasing the O2 fraction in the air. Extreme hyperoxia modifies cellular metabolism of all living beings: this is O2 poisoning, the Paul Bert effect. Rapid decompressions from several atmospheres, or even from sea level to high altitude, can entail the formation of bubbles of N2 dissolved under the high pressure in the tissues and blood. Decompression accidents may be prevented by decompressing slowly. Immediate recompression is the only way to overcome decompression accidents, as the N2 is forced back into solution. These main discoveries were not universally accepted before about 1915. However, since Paul Bert's time, some additional effects of changes of the barometric pressure, for example related to the variation of gas diffusivity and density, have been pointed out. It is also clear that some factors other than low barometric pressure, for instance radiation, temperature, humidity etc. may play important roles in the mechanism of mountain sickness. However, it remains that the main factor is hypoxia, since oxygen inhalation or recompression lead to a quick recovery.

Trauma of rapid decompression

The hazards of rapid decompression in flight lie chiefly in ensuing hypoxia, accidental ejection, and associated physical injuries. Proper equipment and operating procedures can circumvent all these hazards. During chamber indoctrination runs, rapid decompression can produce pulmonary injury if persons anticipating the decompression intentionally close the glottis or Valsalva, at the wrong moment. The mechanism of injury and the sequelae are identical with those of injury while surfacing from depth under water, where opportunity to inspire at depth existed, and the glottis was closed during the ascent. Experience to date would indicate that unintentional closure of the glottis at the time of an unpredictable accidental decompression in an aircraft is extremely unlikely, and the hazard of pulmonary injury exceedingly remote. The problem of exceedingly rapid decompressions, of the order of 1 to 5 milliseconds is briefly discussed.

Experimental Researches

The various notices I have had the honour of presenting under this title have had the effect of demonstrating that changes of barometric pressure, if we except very rapid and great decompressions, have no physico-mechanical action upon animals and vegetables, but influence them exclusively from a chemical point of view. Below the normal pressure of the air too feeble tension of oxygen tends to promote asphyxia : above, too strong a tension tends to increase those formidable accidents which I have designated, somewhat paradoxically I admit, by the expression, poisoning by oxygen ; and hence the conclusion at which I have arrived, that all danger may be avoided by varying the oxygenous richness of the air inversely to the variation of pressure.