Epidemiological Assessment of Technical Diving Accidents in Mainland France and Factors Predictive of Severity (TEKCare)

In recent years, the increased availability of breathing gas mixtures, together with progressive technical development of specialized diving equipment, has contributed to expansion of the diver's community. Deep and long dives expose to decompression sickness (DCS) risk and hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) is the definitive treatment. Incidence, clinical expression or prognosis of pathological events after technical diving might differ from recreational ones. A better knowledge of these specificity will facilitate risk assessment, analysis and medical care for hyperbaric physician community.

Primary outcomes

• Demographic description of injured technical divers treated in French hyperbaric center [15 years]: Comparison of technical diver populations according to length of hospitalization (< 48 hours vs > 48 hours) corresponding to treatment with simple hyperbaric oxygen therapy or requiring several consolidation sessions in view of the severity and/or intensity of symptoms.

Secondary outcomes

• Predictive factor of severity [15 years]: Evaluation regarding the number of OHB treatment (reflecting the gravity if more than 2) and diving profil (breathing apparatus, maximal depth, dive total time, composition of mixed gas), demographic profile of divers (age, sex, medical conditions) and symptoms presentation.

Sex: All, ages: 18 Years to any

Inclusion Criteria:

* Civilian technical diver
* Diving accident history (decompression sickness, biochemical accident or immersion pulmonary edema) following a technical dive in a trimix and/or rebreather dive
* Treated in a hyperbaric center on the coast of mainland France

Exclusion Criteria:

* Participation denied by the diver
* Diving incident diagnosis not retained by the hyperbaric physician