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AI-DRAFTED — PHYSICIAN REVIEW IN PROGRESSThe citation for this entry was checked against Crossref and PubMed, but its summary and interpretation were drafted by an AI model from the published abstract and have not yet been individually read by a physician. Read the linked source before relying on this operationally.
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Swimming-Induced Pulmonary Edema: A Scoping Review and Analysis of Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, Diagnostics, Management, and Implications for Resource-Limited Care[1]

Steins H · 2026 · Wilderness Environ Med

Summary

PRISMA-ScR scoping review of swimming-induced pulmonary edema (SIPE) with an emergency-medicine and resource-limited-care focus. SIPE = acute dyspnea, cough, sometimes hemoptysis during/after swimming, especially in cold water; pathophysiology is central blood pooling raising pulmonary capillary pressure, plus cold vasoconstriction and exercise-driven cardiac output. Risk factors: hypertension, female sex, cold-water exposure, TIGHT WETSUITS, prior SIPE. Lung ultrasound is a promising rapid diagnostic; management is supportive (rapid removal from water, oxygen, sometimes positive airway pressure); recurrence is significant.

So what

The prevention-and-recognition companion to the IPE severity cohort, and the source of the concrete water-event checklist: SIPE is a life-threatening but reversible condition in HEALTHY swimmers, its risk factors are partly modifiable at the event (wetsuit fit, cold-water acclimatization, prior-episode screening), lung ultrasound belongs in the swim-finish medical kit, and the first move is get-them-out-and-oxygen. Underrecognition is the named danger - which is exactly why a curated MGMI page matters. Together with Kociuba, Di Masi, and Windsor it makes a four-entry water-events shelf.

Key findings

  • Scoping review of SIPE for emergency/prehospital and resource-limited settings
  • Risk factors: hypertension, female sex, cold water, tight wetsuits, prior SIPE
  • Pathophysiology: central pooling + cold vasoconstriction + exercise cardiac output
  • Lung ultrasound a promising rapid diagnostic; management supportive (remove/O2/PAP)
  • Significant recurrence; underrecognition the named hazard

Read the paper