Tuberc Respir Dis.  2003 Sep;55(3):287-296.

Clinical Feature of Submersion Injury in Adults

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea. kimch@knu.ac.kr

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Drowning represents the third most common cause of all accidental deaths worldwide. Although few studies of submersion injury were done in Korea, the subjects were mainly pediatric patients. The purpose of this study is to describe the clinical feature of submersion injury in adults.
METHODS
The medical records of 31 patients with submersion injury who were >15 years of age and admitted to Kyungpook National University Hospital from July 1990 to March 2003 were retrospectively examined.
RESULTS
The most common age-group, cause, and site of submersion accidents in adults were 15-24 years of age, inability to swim, and river followed by more than 65 years of age, drinking, and public bath respectively. The initial chest radiographs showed bilaterally and centrally predominant distribution of pulmonary edema at lung base in about 90% of patients with pulmonary edema represented by submersion injury but at only upper lung zone in 10%. Eventually, 25 patients (80.6%) survived without any neurologic deficit and 2 patients (6.5%) with significant neurologic deficit, and 4 patients (12.9%) died. Age, arterial gas oxygenation, and mental status among baseline variables showed significant difference for prognosis.
CONCLUSIONS
More than 65 years of age, drinking, and occurrence in public bath were relatively important in submersion injury of adults, and the successful survival of 80.6% of patients suggests that cardiopulmonary resuscitation should be intensively done in even adults.

Keyword

Submersion injury; Near-drowning; Drowning

MeSH Terms

Adult*
Baths
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
Drinking
Drowning
Gyeongsangbuk-do
Humans
Immersion*
Korea
Lung
Medical Records
Near Drowning
Neurologic Manifestations
Oxygen
Prognosis
Pulmonary Edema
Radiography, Thoracic
Retrospective Studies
Rivers
Oxygen
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