Editing Decompression illness (section)

===Decompression sickness===
{{See also|Decompression sickness#Mechanism}}

Depressurisation causes [[inert gas]]es, which were dissolved under higher [[pressure]], to come out of physical [[Solution (chemistry)|solution]] and form gas [[liquid bubble|bubble]]s within the body. These bubbles produce the symptoms of decompression sickness.{{r|38uhms | Ackles}} Bubbles may form whenever the body experiences a reduction in pressure, but not all bubbles result in DCS.{{sfn|Nishi Brubakk & Eftedal|p=501}} The amount of gas dissolved in a liquid is described by [[Henry's Law]], which indicates that when the pressure of a gas in contact with a liquid is decreased, the amount of that gas dissolved in the liquid will also decrease proportionately.

On ascent from a dive, inert gas comes out of solution in a process called "[[outgassing]]" or "offgassing". Under normal conditions, most offgassing occurs by [[gas exchange]] in the [[lung]]s.{{r|Kindwall1 | Kindwall2}} If inert gas comes out of solution too quickly to allow outgassing in the lungs then bubbles may form in the blood or within the solid tissues of the body. The formation of bubbles in the skin or joints results in milder symptoms, while large numbers of bubbles in the venous blood can cause lung damage.{{sfn|Francis & Mitchell, ''Manifestations''|pp=583–584}} The most severe types of DCS interrupt — and ultimately damage — spinal cord function, leading to [[paralysis]], [[Sensory system|sensory]] dysfunction, or death. In the presence of a [[right-to-left shunt]] of the heart, such as a [[patent foramen ovale]], venous bubbles may enter the arterial system, resulting in an [[arterial gas embolism]].{{r|Francis}}{{sfn|Francis & Mitchell, ''Pathophysiology''|pp=530–541}} A similar effect, known as [[ebullism]], may occur during [[explosive decompression]], when water vapour forms bubbles in body fluids due to a dramatic reduction in environmental pressure.{{r|Landis}}