Dosage of Alcohol, Cocaine and Marijuana in Patients with Moderate and Severe Traumatic Brain Trauma Attended at the Hospital of Clinics of the Federal University of Uberlândia

Abstract

Abstract Introduction In Brazil, there are 125,000 hospitalizations a year for traumatic brain injuries (TBI) at a high socio-economic cost, causing serious and permanent sequelae, often associated with the use of alcohol, cocaine and marijuana. Objective to discover the epidemiological characteristics of patients with moderate and severe TBI, treated at the Emergency Room of the Hospital of Clinics of the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU), and their association with the use of alcohol, cocaine and marijuana. Material and Methods saliva and urine samples were collected from 80 patients with moderate and severe TBI, aged ≥18 years, between September 2020 and December 2021. Research was made into the use of alcohol, cocaine and marijuana, using chromatographic immunoassay test kits. Results A total of 28 cases (35%) were positive for alcohol, 22 cases for marijuana (27.5%) and 23 cases for cocaine (28.7%). The average age was 41 years old, with a predominance between 20 to 49 years old and of the male sex (90%). Accidents occurred mainly at night (52.5%) and on weekdays (65%). The most frequent cause of accident was transport (53.8%), followed by falls (22.5%) and aggression (16.2%). Of the transport accidents, motorcycle and automobiles accidents predominated (28.75%). Overall mortality was 16.2%, with zero positive cases for alcohol, 17.4% positive for cocaine and 27.3% positive for marijuana. Conclusion we observed an association between TBI, alcohol, marijuana and cocaine, as well as an increase in cocaine and marijuana cases when compared with a study performed at this institution in 2003.