Recreational water use (RWU) injuries span from superficial lacerations to even death. Given the global popularity of RWU, radiologists should be aware of the common mechanisms and key imaging findings related to injuries in this setting. The goal of this article is to depict common RWU injuries and their emergent radiographic findings, which may have both important surgical and management implications. We present a broad review with case illustrations of these injuries seen at our level 1 trauma center showing the breadth of injury that can occur, general mechanisms and sample imaging findings.
Keywords: Anoxia; Boating; Critical care; Drowning; Emergency medicine; Infections; Jet ski; Near drowning; Propeller injury; Radiologic imaging; Recreational injuries; Review literature; Submersion; Trauma; Water; Water skiing; Wounds and injury.