Laryngeal Choking on Food and Acute Ethanol Intoxication in Adults-An Autopsy Study

Abstract

The retrospective autopsy study included 98 adults who died because of laryngeal choking on a bolus of food: 67 men and 31 women (χ2= 6.843, p < 0.01), average age 58.61 ± 15.87 years (range 26-92 years). Most of the subjects had poor dentition (χ2=34.327, p < 0.01). Twenty individuals died in medical institutions, and 78 were nonhospitalized individuals. More than a third of the nonhospitalized individuals were under the influence of ethanol at the moment of death: average blood concentration 8.3 g/dL (SD = 11.0), ranged from 5.0 to 36.0. Nonhospitalized persons were at the moment of event more often under influence of ethanol than the subjects in control group (χ2=38.874, p < 0.01), and at the same time significantly more intoxicated (z = -7.126, p < 0.01). Our study pointed out that poor dentition and impairment of the swallowing reflex, as a consequence of ethanol intoxication in individuals without mental disorders, were the most important risk factors for bolus death. © 2010 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.