Dysbaric osteonecrosis in professional divers: two case reports.

AIM: Dysbaric osteonecrosis (DON) is an avascular bone necrosis seen in divers and compressed-air workers. It continues to be a significant occupational hazard that has important medical and social consequences for professional divers. The prevalence of DON varied between 0% and 70.6% in professional divers in the literature. This paper seeks to describe the distribution of the lesions, the diagnosis and the prognosis of individuals affected by DON referred to a French occupational disease center.

METHOD: We led a retrospective study by searching for cases of DON in the medical files of divers seen in our occupational disease center between 2001 and 2014. 332 professional divers consulted in our center between 2001 and 2014.Clinical, radiological and pathological data were collected to report about the cases.

RESULTS

We report two cases of DON in divers. The first case is a left femoral head lesion in a 38-year-old man who underwent a total hip arthroplasty. Histopathological examination of the native femoral head confirmed the diagnosis of DON. The second case of DON concerns the humeral heads in a 52-year-old man. The treatment was conservative in this second case. In both cases the patients have been declared definitely medically unfit to dive and were financially compensated.

Conclusion

The prognosis of DON raises the question of the ability among employees whose rehabilitation is difficult.