Trauma Patterns of Drowning after Falling from Bridges over Han River

Recently, the number of patients who fell or jumped from bridges over Han River has rapidly increased. However, the injury patterns and outcomes of these patients have been poorly characterized. The aim of this study was to determine the injury characteristics of these patients.

We reviewed the medical records of all patients who were transferred to the Emergency Room due to jumping or falling from bridges over Han River between 2011 and 2015.

A total of 203 patients were included. Among them, 14 (6.9%) patients were dead on arrival, 51 (25.1%) patients were expired in the hospital, and 138 (70%) patients were discharged alive, including a patient who had severe neurologic sequelae after resuscitation. Skeletal and internal organ injuries were identified based on radiologic images. The most injured organ was thorax (58.1%), followed by spine (23.1%), abdomen (11.1%), extremity (7.7%), and cranium (5.2%). Chest tubing for pneumothorax or hemothorax was performed in four (2.9%) patients. Surgical intervention was needed for four patients (2.9%).

Trauma patterns were concentrating on the thorax and spine regions. Therefore, complete radiographic evaluation should be performed for these patients.