Diazepam Under Hyperbaric Conditions in Rats

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Abstract
Due to the recent expansion of the offshore oil drilling industry, an ever-increasing number of workers are required to live for days and weeks at a time, saturated with O2/He at increased pressure. In cases of injuries or acute diseases, medical care and drug treatment have to be given under hyperbaric conditions due to the long decompression time. Physiological conditions and drug reactions are influenced by raised pressures, and there is a requirement for a certain number of drugs for use in emergency situations to be evaluated under such circumstances. The effect of diazepam, expressed as loss of the righting reflex, in 60 adult rats compressed with O2/He to 90 ATA [atmospheres of absolute pressure] was compared to 18 diazepam-treated rats at 1 ATA. A marked pressure reversal of the loss of righting reflex was found. Convulsions provoked by high He pressure were prevented by diazepam and the symptoms of High Pressure Nervous Syndrome were reduced.