Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41292063›Full record

ArticleJournal of forensic sciences2026

Incidents of sudden death during restraint of agitated individuals in Sweden between 1992 and 2024.

Alexander Tyr, Erik Lindeman, Fredrik Tamsen, Ingemar Thiblin, Brita Zilg

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of forensic sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Alexander TyrSwedish National Board of Forensic Medicine Stockholm, Solna, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0008-8246-092X
Erik LindemanSwedish Poisons Information Centre, Solna, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1932-721X
Fredrik TamsenSwedish National Board of Forensic Medicine Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5038-7512
Ingemar ThiblinSwedish National Board of Forensic Medicine Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2962-2466
Brita ZilgSwedish National Board of Forensic Medicine Stockholm, Solna, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3837-1195

Funding

Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Restraint-related sudden deaths in agitated individuals raise complex questions at the intersection of medicine and law. Hyperactive delirium with extreme agitation as well as positional asphyxia due to restraint have been proposed to account for these deaths. However, the exact physiological mechanisms responsible and to what extent restraint contributes to the lethal outcome remain debated. In this nationwide, 32-year retrospective study between 1992 and 2024, we examined circumstances surrounding sudden deaths during restraint of agitated individuals in Sweden. A total of 52 cases were identified, with an average of 0.17 deaths per million inhabitants annually. Ninety percent of cases involved prone restraint and 69% showed evidence of stimulant use. In 15 cases from 2005 onward, peri-arrest arterial blood gas data revealed profound metabolic and respiratory acidosis, with a mean blood pH of 6.52 (range: 6.30-6.95; median: 6.50), mean lactate concentration of 26.3 mmol/L (range: 8.6-41.0; median: 30), and mean pCO

Indexed as

Death, SuddenPsychomotor AgitationRestraint, PhysicalAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAsphyxiaBlood Gas AnalysisCarbon DioxideCentral Nervous System StimulantsFemaleHeart ArrestHumansLactic AcidMaleMiddle AgedCarbon DioxideCentral Nervous System StimulantsLactic Acidacidosisarrest‐related deathsarterial blood gasautopsyexcited deliriumforensic pathologyhyperactive deliriummedico‐legal death investigationspositional asphyxiaprone restraintrestraint asphyxiasudden cardiac death

Identifiers

PMID41292063
PMCPMC12967712

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.