Background

Nausea and vomiting may present after a recreational scuba dive. Many divers could suffer from this condition that has been poorly described in literature: its pathophysiological basis is uncertain and so is the treatment. There are many possible and concomitant causes that can trigger these symptoms, among which dehydration, seasickness, deep dives, cold water and other factors.

Materials and Methods

We conducted a survey, through an on-line questionnaire, with mainly close-ended questions, investigating a sample of divers with different experience, in order to analyze which factors may have contributed to the development of these symptoms, including the characteristic of the dives, their past medical history and their diving experience.

Results

486 divers completed our survey, of these we analyzed 477 and we excluded 9. Among these 477 questionnaires, 56,6% people reported to have at least one episode of nausea during scuba diving. The comparison between the two groups showed no significant differences in terms of medical history and comorbidities.

Conclusion

Our study identified the high prevalence of this phenomenon and thus it stressed the importance of better understanding its underlying pathophysiology.

Further research is required to recognize the possible eliciting factors and to plan a possible therapy and individual preventive habits that may improve the enjoyability of recreational dives for the scuba divers who have previously suffered from this condition.