ELECTROLYTE CHANGES IN HUMANS UNDER HYPERBARIC CONDITIONS.

The correlation observed in these experiments between the retention of the extracellular cations, sodium and calcium, and the partial pressure of nitrogen implicates the narcotic properties of nitrogen in these changes. This view is strengthened by the lack of any effect with helium, which is non-narcotic at similar partial pressures. Furthermore, the reversibility of these electrolyte changes upon decompression is in accord with the reversible nature of nitrogen narcosis. Similar changes in electrolyte excretion have been reported during general anaesthesia and alcohol inebriation (Papper and Ngai, 1956). The electrolyte retention observed may be a homeostatic adjustment by the body to compensate for the type of electrolyte imbalance that has been reported to occur with inert gas narcosis (Bennett and Hayward, 1967). (Author)