Verification of the effectiveness of preventing altitude decompression disorders by nitrogen desaturation of the organism through surrounding the body with an oxygen envelope

: The purpose of the present investigation was to assess the effect of nitrogen penetrating the human skin from the ambient atmosphere on the level of denitrogenization achieved by oxygen breathing. Young healthy male test subjects were exposed to denitrogenization for 5, 6 or 8 hours by breathing pure oxygen. During that time they wore an oxygen filled suit. Then they ascended an altitude of 11,000 m and remained there for 6 hours doing exercises. Altogether 38 investigations were carried out on 13 subjects, with and without a pressure suit. The investigation did not demonstrate any specific differences in the occurrence of decompression disease at an altitude of 11,000 m with or without a pressure suit. Nitrogen penetrating through the skin from the ambient atmosphere during oxygen breathing did not influence the level of denitrogenization.