Journal of applied physiology
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Trimix (a mixture of helium, nitrogen, and oxygen) has been used in deep diving to reduce the risk of high-pressure nervous syndrome during compression and the time required for decompression at the end of the dive. There is no specific recompression treatment for decompression sickness (DCS) resulting from trimix diving. Our purpose was to validate a rat model of DCS on decompression from a trimix dive and to compare recompression treatment with oxygen and heliox (helium-oxygen). ⋯ The risk of DCS in rats weighing 200-350 g increased linearly with body mass. Twenty-four hours after decompression, death rate was 40% in the control animals and zero in those treated immediately with HBO. When treatment was delayed by 5 min, death rate was 25 and 20% with HBO and heliox, respectively.