Pressure on the thorax associated with a large crowd can result in asphyxiation.
Situations where this may occur include a person:
(1) surrounded by a large group of people who are all pressing in on the victim.
(2) at the bottom of a pile of people.
The person is unable due to breathe due to compressive forces on the thorax which makes ventilation impossible so the person suffocates.
A similar mechanism is seen with the boa constrictor, entrapment in a confined space or falling into a grain silo.
The diagnosis should be suspected when a person is found dead or hypoxic with no other explanation other than being trapped in a crowd.
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Specialty: Surgery, orthopedic, Emergency Medicine, Critical Care, Surgery, general, Cardiology
ICD-10: ,
