@article{ref1,
title="Alcohol intoxication and its effects on traumatic spinal cord injury outcomes",
journal="Journal of neurotrauma",
year="2014",
author="Crutcher, Clifford L. and Ugiliweneza, Beatrice and Hodes, Jonathan E. and Kong, Maiying and Boakye, Maxwell",
volume="31",
number="9",
pages="798-802",
abstract="There is sparse data regarding the impact of alcohol on in-hospital complications associated with traumatic spinal cord injuries (TSCI). The authors set out to quantify the impact of alcohol on TSCI outcomes and its influence on healthcare cost and utilization. The National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) Research Data Set (RDS) version 7.2 (2000-2006) was utilized to gather data between 2007 and 2009. We extracted cases of TSCI (ICD-9-CM codes 806.xx) without concurrent traumatic brain injury. Outcomes of interest were mortality, length of stay (LOS), ICU days, ventilator days, and complications. Continuous outcomes such as LOS, ICU days, and ventilator days were analyzed using linear regression. Risk adjusted analysis of risk factors for mortality and complication rates were performed using multiple logistic regression. Of the 10,611 persons identified in the NTDB, alcohol was present in approximately a fifth of all cases (20.76%). A majority of TSCI patients were young (mean age 39) Caucasian (65.07%) males (75.93%). Blunt injury was the most common mechanism of injury. The presence of alcohol did not significantly affect mortality or neurological complications. Alcohol in the blood was associated with extended LOS, longer ICU stays, more days spent ventilated, and increased risk of all-type complications. Furthermore, there was a statistically significant association with the presence alcohol and increased risk for pulmonary, pneumonia, DVT/PE, UTI, and ulcer/skin complications. Alcohol intoxication is associated with increased in-hospital morbidity. The significant association with in hospital complications increases health resource utilization after spinal cord injury.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0897-7151",
doi="10.1089/neu.2014.3329",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/neu.2014.3329"
}