Positive Blood Alcohol Concentration Research Articles

Interrelation between alcohol and accidents.

The proportion of the 545000 trauma cases admitted to hospital each year which is associated with alcohol is not known but two useful studies of BACs (blood alcohol concentration) in admissions to Accident and Emergency (A&E) Departments in Great Britain are available, at Salford and at Broxburn in Scotland. Of the casualties at the English hospital, 13.2 percent had positive BACs and 18.3 percent of the Scottish study: 9.3 percent of the Salford cases were over the legal limit for driving, 10.2 percent of the Broxburn study. The two studies give similar figures for the source of the accidents. For road accidents, 14.22 percent of the casualties had positive BACs with 11-17.4 percent over the legal limit. This compares with 38 percent positive and 28 percent over the legal limit in driver fatalities, and 20 percent over the legal limit in roadside screening breath tests where drivers had been involved in an accident. The accumulated evidence strongly supports an association between alcohol and accidents leading to injury, but association does not necessarily mean causation. Causation is plausible from the known effects of alcohol on human performance. The decrements in performance with alcohol found in a range of perceptual and motor tasks result more from impaired information processing rather than from decreased sensory responsiveness or motor ability. The decrements are progressive with increasing BAC. Above all, adequate research is needed into the uncertainty about the relationship between acute and chronic alcohol misuse on the one hand, and on the other, the immediate mortality, the severity of injuries as measured by a suitable injury severity score, and the outcome of the injuries in terms of survival, length of stay in hospital and disability. (Author/TRRL)

Alcohol consumption of patients attending two accident and emergency departments in north-west England.

The impact of alcohol use on the workload of two accident & emergency departments in north-west England was assessed by blood alcohol concentration (BAC) measurement, inspection of clinical records and interview of all patients aged 16 and over attending throughout a two-week period. The frequency of intoxication was similar to the previous reported rate in Scotland: 13.2% of all patients had a positive BAC. Inebriated injured patients arrived at all times of the day--varying in frequency from 2.5% of midday attenders to 78% of those presenting after midnight. The incidence of alcohol-related industrial accidents was low, but 60% of all assaulted patients were inebriated, many having sustained head injuries. Of patients attending within 2 hours of an accident at home, 19% also had a positive BAC, but 92% of those with ankle sprains were sober. Patients in lower social classes reported higher rates of alcohol consumption. The popularity of beer in comparison to wines and spirits was inversely related to age and unrelated to social class. Alcohol abuse is commonly associated with injuries sustained at home and with assaults occurring in public places. Prevention campaigns directed at the reduction of these types of incidents should be as concerned with the inebriation of the patient as with the architectural, environmental and legal framework within which the 'accident' occurs.

Occurrence of short chain aliphatic diols in human blood: identification by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Patients attending a general hospital for various reasons were screened for raised serum gamma glutamyltransferase (gamma-GT) and positive blood alcohol concentration (BAC). The results served as objective biochemical tests of heavy drinking. Among 419 individuals, 50 (11.9%) met these requirements and blood samples were used to determine the presence of low molecular mass aliphatic diols. 1,2-Propanediol, 2,3-butanediol and 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-propanediol were determined by gas liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In patients with blood ethanol concentration < 2 mmol/l, 1,2-propanediol and 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-propanediol mainly occurred together at median concentrations of about 200 μmol/l. When blood ethanol was 2–42 mmol/l, 2,3-butanediol was also present covering a wide concentration range: three patients had concentrations between 6 and 10 mmol/l. There was no apparent correlation between the concentration of 2,3-butanediol and the concentration of blood ethanol. The diols were below the limits of detection in blood from nonintoxicated control individuals and hospital in-patients.