Introduction: Breath-hold (BH) diving has known risks, for example drowning, pulmonary oedema of immersion and barotrauma. There is also the risk of decompression illness (DCI) from decompression sickness (DCS) and/or arterial gas embolism (AGE). The first report on DCS in repetitive freediving was published in 1958 and from then there have been multiple case reports and a few studies but no prior systematic review or meta-analysis.
Methods: We undertook a systematic literature review to identify articles available from PubMed and Google Scholar concerning breath-hold diving and DCI up to August 2021.
Results: The present study identified 17 articles (14 case reports, three experimental studies) covering 44 incidences of DCI following BH diving.
Conclusions: This review found that the literature supports both DCS and AGE as potential mechanisms for DCI in BH divers; both should be considered a risk for this cohort of divers, just as for those breathing compressed gas while underwater.
Keywords: Arterial gas embolism; Breath-hold diving; Decompression sickness; Diving; Freediving; Snorkelling; Spearfishing.
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