Unique drowning in an atypical medium: paraffin wax in the setting of a motor vehicle crash—case report and literature survey

Abstract

Among the various modes of death due to asphyxiation, drowning is unique. Unlike other types of suffocation associated with occluding airway obstructions (i.e. choking and smothering); with drowning, there is typically filling and involvement of the majority of the tracheobronchial tree and aerodigstive tract. Although the usual drowning medium is water, it can also occur in other media. Moreover, although drowning sometimes occurs in the setting of a motor vehicle accident, an element of vehicular submersion or immersion is usually operative in such instances. The case presented here is that of a motor vehicle crash which resulted in drowning where no immersion of the vehicle occurred. Moreover, the drowning medium was paraffin wax, rather than water. Other cases in the literature of drowning in atypical media and also those which are reported in the concomitant presence of a motor vehicle accident are presented.

A safe procedure? The unusual case of a fatal airway obstruction by silicone during the production process of a tracheostomal epithesis in a 13-year-old boy

“…Mullan and Vey (2011) [ 14 ] described the death case of a 41-year-old man who became victim of an unusual motor vehicle crash and died from drowning in another atypical medium. At autopsy, the larynx, trachea, and main bronchi appeared completely filled and obstructed by paraffin wax from the tanker trailer of the truck that the man was driving.…”

Peculiar and Unusual Drowning in Waste Oil from Motor Vehicles: Case Report

“…If we consider alternative fluids to the water, it is more common that their penetration in the respiratory tract is subsequent to inhalation, which is followed by lung pathologies more than by a real asphyctic syndrome [2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Other fluid that in rare occurrences have been mentioned in the literature as a means of drowning asphyxia are represented by wax, paraffin, beer, bitumen, and gas oil [9][10][11][12][13][14]. Therefore, due to its uniqueness, the authors present a case of drowning in waste oil from motor vehicles.…”

The impact of 2011!

“…Case reports covered a very wide range of topics including lethal necrotizing fasciitis [29], Ehrlichiosis [30], Armanni-Ebstein phenomenon related to starvation [31], and Takotsubo cardiomyopathy [32]. Traumatic deaths resulted from drowning in paraffin wax [33] and an impacted button battery with a tracheoesophageal fistula [34]. Other sections such as Images in Forensics and Differential Diagnosis have also attracted interesting case studies and vignettes that have ranged from veterinary [35] to human forensic pathology [36].…”