SAND ASPIRATION WITH NEAR-DROWNING - RADIOGRAPHIC AND BRONCHOSCOPIC FINDINGS

Sand and foreign-body aspiration may accompany drowning and near-drown ing, bur few details regarding such patients are available in the lite rature, We report a 26-yr-old woman who suffered near-drowning after a motor-vehicle accident. Initial attempts at ventilation were compromi sed by increased peak airway pressures, which decreased following the removal of large amounts of sand from the patient's endotracheal tube. Chest radiographs and computed tomographic (CT) scans of the patient obtained upon her arrival in the emergency department demonstrated san d bronchograms within the lower lobes of both lungs, and sand within t he maxillary sinuses and stomach, We present the radiographic, broncho scopic, and microbiologic findings within hours after this patient's a ccident, with a review of the literature and provisional recommendatio ns for the management of such patients.