Abstract
The role of epileptiform seizures in causing drowning and near-drowning among children was studied by examining the case reports of all 140 childhood immersion accidents that occurred in an area of Hawaii over five years. Four of the 140 immersion accidents were caused partly by epileptiform seizures, but none were fatal. The combined results of the Hawaiian and Brisbane studies (total population studied over five years 1 600 000) showed that no epileptic children died from accidents in the sea or in swimming pools; and the 2.9% incidence of immersion accidents due to seizures in the Hawaiian study compares well with the incidence found in other series. If an epileptic child is mentally normal, well controlled with anticonvulsants, and supervised in the water then the risk of drowning is very small.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Allen R. H., Eiseman B., Straehley C. J., Orloff B. G. Surfing injuries At waikiki. JAMA. 1977 Feb 14;237(7):668–670. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Chun B., Okihiro M. M., Hale R. W. An analysis of drowning incidents on Oahu, 1960-1970. Hawaii Med J. 1973 Mar-Apr;32(2):92–95. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Dietz P. E., Baker S. P. Drowning: epidemiology and prevention. Am J Public Health. 1974 Apr;64(4):303–312. doi: 10.2105/ajph.64.4.303. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Livingston S., Pauli L. L., Pruce I. Epilepsy and drowning in childhood. Br Med J. 1977 Aug 20;2(6085):515–516. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.6085.515-a. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Martin C. M., Barrett O., Jr Drowning and near-drowning: a review of ten years' experience in a large Army hospital. Mil Med. 1971 May;136(5):439–443. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Pearn J., Nixon J. Bathtub immersion accidents involving children. Med J Aust. 1977 Feb 12;1(7):211–213. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1977.tb130633.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Pearn J., Nixon J., Wilkey I. Freshwater drowning and near-drowning accidents involving children: a five-year total population study. Med J Aust. 1976 Dec 18;2(25-26):942–946. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1976.tb115532.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Richards E. H. Aspects of epilepsy and burns. Epilepsia. 1968 Jun;9(2):127–135. doi: 10.1111/j.1528-1157.1968.tb05134.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rose S. W., Penry J. K., Markush R. E., Radloff L. A., Putnam P. L. Prevalence of epilepsy in children. Epilepsia. 1973 Jun;14(2):133–152. doi: 10.1111/j.1528-1157.1973.tb03951.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- TEMPEST M. N. A survey of domestic burns and scalds in Wales during 1955; some observations on their prevention and the social responsibility of the medical profession. Br Med J. 1956 Jun 16;1(4980):1387–1392. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.4980.1387. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Williams C. E. Accidents in mentally retarded children. Dev Med Child Neurol. 1973 Oct;15(5):660–662. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8749.1973.tb05179.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]