Deaths due to drowning: Retrospective autopsy study Suda boğulmaya bağlı ölümler: Retrospektif otopsi çalışması


Creative Commons License

BEYHUN N. E., Ketenci H. C., ÜSTÜNDAĞ M. G., Agrali-Gündoğmuş C., TOPBAŞ M., Boz H.

Turk Hijyen ve Deneysel Biyoloji Dergisi, vol.77, pp.35-48, 2020 (Scopus) identifier

Abstract

© 2020. Turk Hijyen ve Deneysel Biyoloji Dergisi. All rights reserved.Objective: Per thousand persons in Turkey every year lose their lives by drowning. Although accident is the most common cause of death in drowning cases; It can also be suicide, murder or natural death. For this reason, the enlightenment of the mechanism of death by autopsy is of great importance.The aim of this study is to investigate retrospectively the autopsy reports and allavailable forensic documents related to drowning death soccurring in the provinces where Trabzon Forensic Medicine Department is responsible. Methods: The study is descriptive. The autopsy reports and all the forensic documents of the cases that were found to have died as a result of drowning in the water between the dates 01.01.2014- 31.12.2018 in the provinces which were connected to the Forensic Medicine Institution Trabzon Group Presidency in terms of forensic services were examined retrospectively. In summarizing qualitative data, number and percentage were used, and in summarizing quantitative data, mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum were used. Results: 2.6% of the forensic deaths that were transferred to the Trabzon Group Presidency of Forensic Medicine Institution were drowning. The meanage of the cases was 34.66 ± 17.26. 39.0% were in Trabzon, 51.2% were at sea, 36.6% were beach, 18.3% were on the road of the cases. The aim of 43.9% of the cases is swimming, 18.3% of them are road travel. The origin of 83.0% is theaccident. The maceration of the hands/ feet was found in 39.0%, fungal foam was found in 41.5%, macroscopic lung findings in 95.1% and microscopic in 92.7% of the cases. Conclusion: In our study, it was seen that most of the drowning cases at sea, for swimming purposes, the victims were mostly young people, the cases caused by traffic accidents had an important place. Measures should be increased, swimming trainings should be provided.