Prevalence of Traumatic Injuries in Drowning and Near Drowning in Children and Adolescents

Abstract

The prevalence of traumatic injury in drowning and near drowning is low. We identified only cervical spine injuries, and all but 1 patient had a clear history of diving. Use of specialized trauma evaluations may not be warranted for patients in drowning and near-drowning accidents without a clear history of traumatic mechanism.

Patterns of Injuries in Drowning Patients - Do These Patients Need a Trauma Team?

“…Drowning and near drowning patients have a very low rate of associated traumatic injuries. 5,7,8 Only one patient (2.4%) in our study suffered a cervical injury, which is similar to the findings of Hwang et al 8 who found that 4.9% of drowning patients had injuries, all of which were cervical in nature. In addition, out of Hwang's drowning population, all but one of the patients with a cervical injury had a witnessed diving mechanism.…”

Association of injury mechanism with the risk of cervical spine fractures

“…Injuries resulting from diving incidents are often associated with devastating outcomes. 29,30 For fall-related injuries, our study demonstrates a positive relationship between the height of a fall, increasing age and the risk for cervical spine injury, thus supporting the findings of previous work. [31][32][33][34] Falls occurring from a height of 1.5 to 3 m and greater than 3 m were of high risk compared with falls less than 1 m, with ORs of 2.8 and 5.3, respectively.…”

Epidemiological and Clinical Characteristics of Seawater Drowning Cases in Sinop, a Turkish Coastal City: A 13-Year Retrospective Study

“…In our cohort, trauma was documented in 7.1% of cases, most frequently involving the extremities and head regions. This prevalence appears slightly higher than those reported in previous studies, which noted trauma rates of approximately 4.9% in pediatric and adolescent populations 17 and 4.7% in mixed-age cohorts 18 . Notably, in these prior studies, traumatic injuries were primarily linked to diving incidents or high-risk aquatic sports-activities that are uncommon in Sinop.…”