Decompression sickness (DCS), also known as caisson disease, divers’ disease, or the bends was first described by Irish alchemist Sir Robert Boyle in 1670 after seeing the effects of depressurizing a viper he had placed in a vacuum. Today, DCS is known as a multiorgan systemic condition in which nitrogen that is normally dissolved in tissues in a pressurized environment leaves the tissues in a gaseous state when the body enters a less pressurized environment. This is mostly seen in deep-sea divers experiencing high environmental pressures when diving, and then normal atmospheric pressure as they return to the water’s surface. This condition has also been seen in pilots and astronauts.