Sink or Swim: The Advantages of Full Postmortem Examination in Cases of Drowning

Abstract

Background There is current debate whether full postmortems should be carried out on drowning victims. Objective To document the value of full postmortem examinations of drowning victims. Methods Retrospective data gathered from 42 postmortem reports of drowning cases over a two-year period. Results Forty-two drowning cases were included, 34 of which were adult internal examinations. Excluding fluid analysis, 38.2% of drowning cases were found to have diagnoses other than drowning thought to have contributed significantly to death. This figure rose to 50% when fluid analysis was included in the postmortem examination. Eighty-eight point two percent of adult internal examination cases found incidental diagnoses other than drowning at postmortem. Conclusion There is advantage to routinely conducting full postmortem examinations on suspected drowning cases, including the extraction of fluid samples.