Plasma
erythropoietin levels are not raised following short exposures to high
environmental pressure during wet or dry diving.
Clinical Bottom Line:
1.
Exposure to wet diving conditions did not alter plasma erythropoietin levels
compared to dry diving.
2.
Neither group differed significantly from control measures pre-dive.
3.
Clinical significance minimal.
Appraised
by: Mike Bennett, Dept of Diving and
Hyperbaric Medicine, Prince of Wales Hospital
Sydney; Monday , 26 November
2001
Clinical
Scenario: Healthy recreational diver
volunteers.
Three-part
Question: In healthy volunteers, does
exposure to a period of high environmental pressure in a wet environment,
compared to a dry environment, lead to an increase in plasma levels of
erythropoetin?
Search
Terms: Erythropoeitin
The
Study:
Non-blinded randomised
cross-over controlled trial with intention-to-treat.
Healthy volunteer divers.
Control group (N = 8; 8 analysed):
Dry chamber dive to 50m for a total dive time of 32 minutes.
Experimental group (N = 8; 8
analysed): Wet dive to exactly the same profile.
The
Evidence:
Outcomes
Time to outcome
Dry dive Wet dive
P-value
Plasma
EPO
(mU/ml)
Post-dive
7.0
5.8 >0.05
Plasma
EPO
(mU/ml)
24 hours
6.2
5.4
>0.05
Comments:
1.
Crossover
design.
2.
May
be the same study as Mutzbauer 2000 in UHM supplement
Expiry
date:
October 2003
References:
1. Mutzbauer T, GruenesA, Neubauer B, Lorenz I, Weiss M, Schneider M, Tetzlaff K. Effect of single dry and wet dives to 50 meters in sport divers on erythropoietin (EPO) plasma concentrations. European Journal of Underwater Medicine 2001; 2(3):65.
