%0 Journal Article
%T Blood alcohol concentration and management of road trauma patients in the emergency department
%J Journal of trauma
%D 2001
%A Vandelli, Alberto
%A Mengozzi, U.
%A Ruggeri, S.
%A Iervese, Tiziana
%A Dente, Massimo
%A Cicognani, A.
%A Rossi, F.
%A Morselli-Labate, A. M.
%A Marchesini, Giulio
%A Fabbri, Andrea
%V 50
%N 3
%P 521-528
%X BACKGROUND: The effects of blood alcohol on injury after crash are controversial, and safe limits are not settled. We examined if a positive blood alcohol concentration, even in a nontoxic range, affects management and outcome of injured patients after road crashes. METHODS: In this prospective cohort study, we recruited all adult subjects admitted to an emergency department within 4 hours after a road crash. Outcomes were mortality or expected permanent disability, and data related to patients' management. RESULTS: Alcohol-positive trauma patients were more frequently critical at admission (odds ratio [OR], 1.89; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18-3.02), and had an increased risk of combined mortality or expected permanent disability (OR, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.08-2.58), need for intensive care (OR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.01-3.46), surgery (OR, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.37-2.66) and blood transfusions (OR, 2.09; 95% CI, 1.20-3.64), and acute medical complications (OR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.33-2.85). All these events were explained by higher trauma severity. Only the risk of unsuspected injuries, diagnosed only at final evaluation, was independently associated with a positive blood alcohol concentration (OR, 4.98; 95% CI, 3.62-6.87), in addition to trauma severity and preexisting chronic conditions. Blood alcohol measurement significantly improved the accuracy in predicting unsuspected injuries, from 81.3% to 86.2%. CONCLUSION: In injured patients after a road crash, a positive blood alcohol concentration increases the chance that the final diagnosis will include more injuries than initially documented. More careful monitoring is needed in alcohol-positive trauma patients, independent of clinical status, injury severity, and overt symptoms of alcohol intoxication.
%G 
%I Lippincott Williams and Wilkins
%@ 0022-5282
%U http://dx.doi.org/