NYMC Faculty Publications

Traumatic Brain Injury in Patients Screened for Blood Alcohol Concentration Based on the Mechanism of Injury

DOI

10.1080/02699052.2018.1553065

Journal Title

Brain Injury

First Page

419

Last Page

426

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

January 2019

Department

Medicine

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: We aimed to investigate in-hospital outcomes of traumatic brain injury (TBI) based on blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and mechanism of injury (MOI). METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study for patients admitted with TBI between 2010 and 2014. Based on BAC, patients were classified into [negative (-BAC) and positive (+BAC) group]. Data were analyzed and compared according to the MOI. RESULTS: Out of 8141 trauma patients, 946 (11.6%) were diagnosed with TBI and 681 (72%) were subjected to BAC screening. One out of seven TBI was related to alcohol consumption with a mean age of 32 years. Gender, age, and Injury Severity Scores (ISS) were comparable in the two groups. However, the proportion of patients with polytrauma was significantly higher in -BAC than +BAC group regardless of the MOI except for the fall-related TBI. The median BAC was higher in fall-related followed by pedestrians and MVC victims [55 mmol/L (10-101), 49(9-71), and 31(1-69), respectively], p = 0.001. Overall hospital mortality was comparable between the two groups except for the pedestrian-related TBIs in which (+BAC) had significantly fewer mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Screening for BAC among patients with TBI increases substantially regardless of the MOI. The high BAC value in Fall-related TBI needs more attention to set appropriate preventive measures.

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