Presentations of Runners in Kong Kong Marathon to a Local ED: A 10 Years' Glance

Abstract

Objective To determine the basic characteristics, presentations, diagnoses and critical outcomes (heat Stroke, heat exhaustion, post-cardiac arrest and acute coronary syndrome) of patients in Accident and Emergency Department (AED) of Ruttonjee and Tang Shiu Kin Hospital (RHTSK) who participated in Hong Kong Marathon from 2003 to 2012. Methodology This was a simple descriptive epidemiology study to analyze patients who were participants of Hong Kong Marathon and attended AED of RHTSK for any complaint during or after the event. Results There were a total 170 participants who attended AED of RHTSK in these ten years; in which, 74.1% were male, with a mean (SD) age of 38.08 (11.29). Totally, 77.1% were non-trauma cases and 46.5% were critical/urgent cases (category in AED triage 1-3). Among all cases, 31.8% required admission, 4.1% were care in intensive care unit (ICU), 12.4% were managed in resuscitation room and 3.5% required intubation. The majority of cases were heat stroke and heat exhaustion. There were 4 cases of post cardiac arrest, 3 of them admitted to ICU after successful resuscitation. Number of critical/urgent cases increased with apparent temperature on Marathon Day. The correlation coefficient of percentage of critical/urgent cases with apparent temperature was 0.827 (p=0.011). Conclusion Total number of participants increased dramatically in Hong Kong Marathon throughout these ten years, participants' required medical attendance and emergency service also increased respectively. Number of critical/urgent cases increased with apparent temperature on Marathon Day. The majority of cases were heat-related illness, 4 cases presented with post cardiac arrest and one failed in resuscitation. (Hong Kong j.emerg.med. 2014;21:197-204)