The caisson was a major step in engineering technology and its use grew quickly. With the increasing use of caissons, a new and unexplained malady began to affect the caisson workers.
On returning to the surface at the end of shift, the divers frequently would be struck by dizzy spells, breathing difficulties or sharp pains in the joints or abdomen.
In Caisson disease anemic bone infarcts are due to the sudden development of intravascular gas bubbles (nitrogen) when diver returns too suddenly for a high atmospheric pressure to the normal level at the surface.
The infarcts are found predominantly at the upper and lower end of the femur and at the upper ends of the tibia and humerus.
The characteristic features of this disease are:
*Euphoria
*Impaired mental functions
*Alcoholic intoxication symptoms
The actual cause of caisson disease was first clinically described in 1878 by French physiologist Paul Bert. The caisson disease, sometimes called decompression sickness or the bends.
The cause of the disease is nitrogen at air pressures higher than atmospheric, is absorbed by the blood in amounts greater than normal.
Caisson disease
