DOI: 10.36347/sjmcr.2018.v06i08.028

Pages: 592-594

A 48-year-old obese woman with hypertension stayed at a hot springs inn while on vacation. When she sat near the uncovered drain at the entrance to the spring’s filtration system, her left thigh became sucked and trapped by the drain, and she was unable to escape on her own. The rescuers were able to successfully pull her out and transported her to the hospital. On arrival, she had left subcutaneous hemorrhaging with multiple small blisters on the left thigh with severe pain and left peroneus nerve paralysis. The patient was treated by conservative therapy and then transferred to the local hospital near her home. To our knowledge, this is the first case of skin and subcutaneous injuries with peroneal nerve paralysis induced by suction from a drain in a hot spring. The patient’s thigh was so large it completely covered the drain at the entrance to the filtration system. In addition, the owner of the spring had neglected to install a grilled cover over the hole, so the suction power was increased. These two elements resulted in a rare case of suction injury.