Neurological outcomes in adult drowning patients in China

BACKGROUND: Drowning is the third leading cause of unintentional death worldwide. The epidemiological characteristics of adult drownings are rarely reported. OBJECTIVE: Investigate factors associated with neurological prognosis in adult drowning inpatients. DESIGN: Multicenter medical record review. SETTING: Tertiary health care institutions. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We collected demographic and clinical data on patients who drowned but survived between September 2006 and January 2020. Neurological prognosis was compared in patients with and without cardiac arrest. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Neurological outcomes. SAMPLE SIZE AND CHARACTERISTICS: 142 patients with mean age of 50.6 (19.8) years, male/female ratio of 1.54:1. RESULT: Forty-five patients (31.7%) received CPR, 90 patients (63.4%) experienced unconsciousness, and 59 patients (41.5%) received endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the initial blood lactic acid level (OR: 7.67, 95%CI: 1.23-47.82, P=.029) was associated with a poor neurological prognosis in patients without cardiac arrest. The incidence of ICU admission (OR: 16.604, 95%CI: 1.15-239.49, P=.039) was associated with a poor neurologic prognosis in patients with cardiac arrest. CONCLUSIONS: For the drowning patients with cardiac arrest, ICU admission was associated with neurological function prognosis in these patients. Among the patients without cardiac arrest, the initial lactate value was associated with neurological function prognosis of these patients. LIMITATIONS: Retrospective. CONFLICT OF INTEREST: None.