Near-Drowning in Pediatric Patients Essay -- Nursing, Health Care

Introduction There are an estimated 8,000 deaths per year in the United States from drowning. Near-drowning occurs anywhere from 2-20 times more frequently (for estimated 16,000-160,000 events per year)7. The definitions for drowning and near-drowning have for the longest time been very confusing to understand. Recent health officials have attempted to resolve some of this confusion by redefining drowning as â€Å"the process of experiencing respiratory insufficiency or difficulty following a submersion or immersion in a body of liquid.† Near-drowning has also been redefined as â€Å"survival from a drowning event which involved impaired consciousness or water inhalation for 24 hours or more†2. Both near drowning and near-drowning occur when someone experiences a submersion event. A submersion event is when someone, in this case a pediatric patient, experiences an unexpected submersion in water. When an unexpected submersion, regardless of water type (salt or fresh) occurs, the ind ividual experiences breath hold, panic, and a struggle to resurface1. Humans, naturally, can only hold their breath for a short period of time. This prolonged breath hold results in hypoxia and eventually leads to involuntary gasping. As the individual attempts to gasp for air they sometimes aspirate7. This paper will attempt to look at the clinical presentation of a near-drowning patient who has suffered from a submersion event. Research It was previously thought that the type of water aspirated posed a serious threat to the patient and drastically increased their chance of mortality. In particular, salt water was thought to be one of the more potent types of water to aspirate due to it’s tonicity. This previous thought that salt water was more harmful to... ...01. 4. Oehmichen, M, Hennig, R, and Meissner, C (2007). Near-drowning and clinical laboratory changes. Legal Medicine;10:1-5. 5. Gregorakos, L, Markou, N, Psalida, V, Kanakaki, M, Alexopoulou, A, Sotiriou, E, Damianos, A, Myrianthefs, P (2009). Near-drowning: clinical course of lung injury in adults. Acute Lung Injury;187:93-97. 6. Beeck, EF, Branche, CM, Szpilman, D, Modell, JH, and Bierens, JJ (2005). A new definition of drowning: towards documentation and prevention of a global public health problem. World Health Organization;83(11):853-856. 7. Ender, PT, and Dolan, MJ (1997). Pneumonia Associated with Near-Drowning. Clinical Infectious Diseases;25:896-907. 8. Leroy, P, Smismans, A, and Seute, T (2006). Invasive pulmonary and central nervous system aspergillosis after near-drowning of a child: case report and review of literature. Pediatrics;118(2):509-513.