Relationship between acute alcohol consumption and injury type in Vilnius

Background/objective. A retrospective study was performed on two-month data (18.07.2005 to 15.09.2005) provided by Orthopedic Traumatology Clinic of Vilnius University Emergency Hospital. Patients and methods. During the study period, 3582 patient entries were selected at Trauma Emergency Outpatient Department. A total of 412 were known to be intoxicated with alcohol at the time of trauma. A retrospective analysis of these patients case histories was performed. We selected intoxicated patients with reference alcohol intoxication symptoms described in a patient case history. The following criteria were evaluated: age, sex, employment, education, type of injury, time span from injury to admission. Results. We found that in 412 (11.5%) of patients admitted to Outpatient Department , alcohol had been consumed prior to the accident. There were 339 (82.28%) men and 73 (17.72%) women. 234 (56.8%) were working-age patients. The causes of accidents were: violence 79 (19.17%), suicide 6 (1.46%), auto/moto/vehicle crash accidents 24 (5.83%), falls – 303 (73.54%). 45 patients were hospitalizated to Orthopedic Traumatology or Plastic Surgery departments. Conclusions. The effects of acute alcohol consumption are not injury type specific, and interventions aimed at reducing the incidence of alcohol-related injury should not be targeted at specific injury types. The most frequent cause of accidents was falls (73.5%). Traumas related with alcohol are more specific for young, working-age people (21–40 years – 44.9%, 41–65 years – 25%). Most of alcohol-intoxicated patients were admitted to the Outpatient Department in weekends (70%)