Serum electrolyte changes in near-drowning victims

Abstract

In the late 1940s, Henry Swann and his colleagues^1,2performed classic studies on drowning in canines. In these studies, the authors found that, under conditions of total immersion, blood volume and serum electrolyte changes occurred, which could result in death. Reports on human victims of freshwater and seawater drowning and near-drowning most frequently have noted serum electrolyte concentrations as near normal, and those that were abnormal, as rarely life-threatening.^3-6These observations led to extensive studies of both animals^7,8and humans⁹that concluded that the most pressing consequences of near-drowning were changes in respiratory function, preponderantly hypoxia and metabolic acidosis. These studies also suggested that human near-drowning victims rarely aspirate enough water to cause life-threatening changes in serum electrolyte concentrations. Furthermore, severe abnormalities in serum electrolyte concentrations could be found in only approximately 15% of persons who had died in the water and were not resuscitated.¹⁰