caisson disease

noun

1. aeroembolism.

caisson disease

noun

1. another name for decompression sickness

Word History and Origins

Origin of caisson disease¹

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85

Example Sentences

It proves to be a harbinger of doom: Many of the laborers — and Roebling himself — would be stricken with decompression sickness or “caisson disease.”

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Exposure to such pressures is apt to be followed by disagreeable and even dangerous physiological effects, which are commonly referred to as caisson disease or compressed air illness.

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The chief danger of caisson work is the "bends," or "caisson disease."

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As most physicians are aware, the caisson disease is an affection of the spinal cord, due to a sudden transition from a relatively high atmospheric pressure to one much lower.

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The caisson disease is popularly called "the bends" a kind of paralysis which is more or less baffling to medical science.

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