Arterial oxygen pressure following whole-body vibration at altitude.
Aviat Space Environ Med
; 83(4): 431-5, 2012 Apr.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-22462372
INTRODUCTION: Most helicopter operations are carried out at altitudes below 10,000 ft. At these altitudes, the risk of the crew experiencing hypoxia is low. For that reason, supplementary oxygen is not standard equipment on board most helicopters. Due to developments in military missions, high-altitude operations have become more frequent-as have the chances of the crew experiencing hypoxia. Helicopter crews are subjected to a higher load of whole-body vibration compared to fixed-wing aircraft crews. Whole-body vibration increases muscle work, with increased oxygen consumption as a result. We hypothesized that whole-body vibration, as experienced by helicopter crews, causes additional lowering of arterial oxygen levels under hypoxic conditions. METHODS: Data were collected from 10 subjects. They were all exposed to six different pressure altitudes in a hypobaric chamber, ranging from 1000 ft to 16,000 ft (approximately 305 m to approximately 4877 m). Arterial blood samples were drawn on two occasions at each altitude: after 14 min of rest and followed by 15 min of whole-body vibration (17 Hz, at 1.1 m x s(-2) in the z-axis) at each altitude. RESULTS: There was no significant effect of whole-body vibration on arterial oxygen pressure at altitudes up to 16,000 ft (approximately 4877 m), nor was there any effect on ventilation, seen as changes in arterial pressure of CO2. DISCUSSION: We contribute the lack of effect to the low vibration intensity used in this study. Since this vibration intensity was higher than experienced by helicopter crews during flight, we conclude that whole-body vibration does not contribute to hypoxia during high-altitude operations in helicopters.
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Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Oxígeno
/
Vibración
/
Aeronaves
/
Altitud
/
Hipoxia
Tipo de estudio:
Clinical_trials
Límite:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Aviat Space Environ Med
Año:
2012
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Noruega
Pais de publicación:
Estados Unidos