Death rattle

Death rattle
For the vocalization style used in heavy metal music, see Death growl.
For the Pantera song, see Reinventing the Steel.

A death rattle is a medical term that describes the sound produced by someone who is near death when saliva accumulates in the throat. Those who are dying may lose their ability to swallow, resulting in such an accumulation. While death rattle is a strong indication that someone is near death,[1] it can also be produced by other problems that cause interference with the swallowing reflex, for instance, brain injuries.[citation needed]

It is sometimes misinterpreted as the sound of the person choking to death. In hospice and palliative care, drugs such as glycopyrronium, hyoscine hydrobromide or atropine may be used to reduce secretions and minimize this effect.[2]

See also

  • End-of-life care

References

  1. ^ Wee, Bee; Hillier, Richard; Wee, Bee (2008). Wee, Bee. ed. "Interventions for noisy breathing in patients near to death". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (1): CD005177. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD005177.pub2. PMID 18254072. 
  2. ^ Hipp, B; Letizia, M (2009). "Understanding and responding to the death rattle in dying patients". Medsurg nursing 18 (1): 17–21, 32; quiz 22. PMID 19331295. 

External links


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Death rattle — Death Death (d[e^]th), n. [OE. deth, dea[eth], AS. de[ a][eth]; akin to OS. d[=o][eth], D. dood, G. tod, Icel. dau[eth]i, Sw. & Dan. d[ o]d, Goth. dau[thorn]us; from a verb meaning to die. See {Die}, v. i., and cf. {Dead}.] 1. The cessation of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • death rattle — n a rattling or gurgling sound produced by air passing through mucus in the lungs and air passages of a dying person …   Medical dictionary

  • death rattle — death .rattle n a noise that sometimes comes from the throat or chest of someone who is dying …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • death rattle — death ,rattle noun singular a sound sometimes made in the throat of someone who is dying …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • death rattle — n. a sound that sometimes comes from the throat of a dying person, caused by breath passing through mucus …   English World dictionary

  • death rattle — noun : a rattling or gurgling sound produced by air passing through mucus in the lungs and air passages of one dying * * * noun, pl ⋯ rattles [count] : a sound that is sometimes heard coming from a dying person s throat or chest often used… …   Useful english dictionary

  • death rattle — also death rattle N SING If you say that one thing is the death rattle of another, you mean that the first thing is a sign that very soon the second thing will come to an end. [JOURNALISM] Recriminations over Thursday s by election defeat sound… …   English dictionary

  • death rattle — noun The raspy or gurgling sound sometimes made by a person as he or she draws in or expels the final breaths in the moments before dying. The death rattle gurgled in the throat of his opponent; his arms fell heavily to his side …   Wiktionary

  • death-rattle — see death rattle …   English dictionary

  • death rattle — death′ rat tle n. pat a sound produced by a person immediately preceding death, resulting from the passage of air through the mucus in the throat • Etymology: 1820–30 …   From formal English to slang

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