Individual, environmental and demographic factors may play a role in the prognosis of fatal and non-fatal paediatric drowning.

Abstract

Drowning is a leading cause of unintentional death. Ongoing efforts are dedicated to preventing these tragic incidents. Our aim was to evaluate whether demographic, environmental and epidemiological characteristics of drowned children influence their prognosis. Single-centre retrospective study spanning 12 years. Each patient's record included: age, sex, place of residence, presence of siblings, season of incident, location of event, associated trauma, loss of consciousness, need for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, intubation, admission to intensive care unit, length of stay and mortality. We enrolled 60 patients, with a mean age of 5.9 ± 3.4 years; 63.5% were male. Children who did not reside near the sea were significantly older than those who did (p = 0.01) and faced a higher risk of experiencing sea-related drowning (p = 0.05). No patients died. Loss of consciousness and need for cardiopulmonary resuscitation were recorded in 30 and 19 patients respectively. Seven patients sustained trauma. Only one patient requiring intubation. Pool-related drowning were associated with a higher incidence of needing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (p = 0.02). The need for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (p = 0.05) and the occurrence of trauma (p = 0.02) were identified as risk factors for a longer hospitalisation. Prevention and early initiation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation are essential for achieving a favourable prognosis. Identifying demographic and environmental risk factors may help identify other effective preventive measures.