Dry drowning
Encyclopedia : D : DR : DRY : Dry drowning
Dry drowning is when a person's lungs become unable to extract oxygen from the air, due primarily to:
- Muscular paralysis
- Puncture wound to the torso (affecting ability of diaphragm to create respiritory movement), or
- Changes to the oxygen-absorbing tissues.
Dry drowning can occur clinically, or due to illness or accident, or be deliberately (and repeatedly) induced in torture. It can be traumatizing.
Dry drowning occurs when laryngospasm persists and very little fluid is aspirated into the lungs. The laryngospasm essentially causes asphyxiation and neurogenic pulmonary oedema.
The pathophysiology of this form of pulmonary oedema is multifactorial. It involves an increased negative interstitial pressure during airway obstruction and vascular barotrauma and endothelial damage resulting from a massive sympathetic outflow causing severe vasoconstriction, increased pulmonary vein pressure and increased left atrial pressure. This endothelial damage coupled with Starling’s forces encourages the movement of fluid from the interstitiam to the alveolar space.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.