Silent bubbles - Their effects and detection

Abstract

This paper discusses the concept of the 'silent bubble' (a phenomenon due to gas phase formation in tissues, which does not lead to frank decompression sickness). Special attention is given to the conditions for silent bubbles formation, the methods of their detecton, and to their pathophysiology. Data relating the gas formation in blood and the symptoms of decompression sickness indicate that the distinction between the silent bubbles and clinical ones is often vague and that a bubble-free decompression never existed.