caisson disease

(medicine) A condition resulting from a rapid change in atmospheric pressure from high to normal, causing nitrogen bubbles to form in the blood and body tissues. Also known as bends; compressed-air illness.

A syndrome occurring in people breathing air at high pressure. It was common in those who worked deep underwater in caissons, watertight chambers open at the bottom and containing air at high pressure. On returning to the surface and normal atmospheric pressure, nitrogen dissolved in the bloodstream forms bubbles, which can cause pain if trapped in the joints (see bends). The bubbles can also block the circulation to the brain and elsewhere (decompression sickness). Symptoms are relieved by returning the patient to a high pressure.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: pain resulting from rapid change in pressure
  Synonyms: decompression sickness, aeroembolism, air embolism, gas embolism, bends