The Circulatory Effects of Increased Hydrostatic Pressure Due to Immersion and Submersion

Increased hydrostatic pressure as experienced during immersion and submersion has effects on the circulation. The main effect is counteracting of gravity by buoyancy, which results in reduced extravasation of fluid. Immersion in a cold liquid leads to peripheral vasoconstriction, which centralizes t...

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Published inFrontiers in physiology Vol. 12; p. 699493
Main Authors Weenink, Robert P., Wingelaar, Thijs T.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 19.07.2021
Subjects
blood circulation
diving
hydrostatic pressure
hyperbaric oxygenation
immersion
Physiology
swimming
blood circulation
swimming
diving
hyperbaric oxygenation
immersion
hydrostatic pressure
immersion pulmonary edema
rescue collapse
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Summary:Increased hydrostatic pressure as experienced during immersion and submersion has effects on the circulation. The main effect is counteracting of gravity by buoyancy, which results in reduced extravasation of fluid. Immersion in a cold liquid leads to peripheral vasoconstriction, which centralizes the circulation. Additionally, a pressure difference usually exists between the lungs and the rest of the body, promoting pulmonary edema. However, hydrostatic pressure does not exert an external compressing force that counteracts extravasation, since the increased pressure is transmitted equally throughout all tissues immersed at the same level. Moreover, the vertical gradient of hydrostatic pressure down an immersed body part does not act as a resistance to blood flow. The occurrence of cardiovascular collapse when an immersed person is rescued from the water is not explained by removal of hydrostatic squeeze, but by sudden reinstitution of the effect of gravity in a cold and vasoplegic subject.
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This article was submitted to Environmental, Aviation and Space Physiology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Physiology
Edited by: François Guerrero, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, France
Reviewed by: Tiago Peçanha, University of São Paulo, Brazil; Brett Wong, Georgia State University, United States
ISSN:1664-042X
1664-042X
DOI:10.3389/fphys.2021.699493