The "skin bends" and "creeps" refer to involvement of the skin and subcutaneous tissues by decompression sickness (DCS).
Pathophysiology: small gas bubbles in skin capillaries and lymphatics
Clinical findings:
(1) pruritis of the ears, trunk and upper extremity ("the creeps")
(2) scarlatiniform rash
(3) truncal peau d'orange
(4) mottling or marbling of the skin (cutis marmorata)
(5) pitting edema
Management:
(1) when associated with altitude-related DCS this is usually transient and benign.
(2) when associated with diving-related DCS it often precedes more severe disease and should result in hyperbaric therapy.
Differential diagnosis:
(1) livedo reticularis
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Specialty: Emergency Medicine, Critical Care, Pulmonology, Neurology
ICD-10: ,