Hypercalcemia complicating an industrial near-drowning.

A 28-year-old man presented with lethargy, solmulence, and polyuria following near-drowning in a vessel of an offshore oil rig. Laboratory evaluation demonstrated severe hypercalcemia that responded to saline diuresis and nasogastric suctioning. Calcium salts are used frequently in the drilling and completion of oil wells, and it is presumed that this patient's hypercalcemia represented acute intoxication from swallowed and aspirated fluid. This case highlights the need to consider the potential constituents of the drowning fluid in victims of near-drowning, particularly if unexplained clinical phenomena are evident.