• James H Brennan, Stephen Bernard, Peter A Cameron, Alexander Olaussen, Mark C Fitzgerald, Jeffrey V Rosenfeld, and Biswadev Mitra.
• Emergency and Trauma Centre, The Alfred Hospital, Commercial Road, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia; Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, The Alfred Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Electronic address: jhbre2@student.monash.edu.
• J Clin Neurosci. 2015 Dec 1; 22 (12): 1928-32.

AbstractThis study aims to investigate an association between ethanol exposure and in-hospital mortality among patients with isolated traumatic brain injury (iTBI). Ethanol exposure is associated with a substantially increased risk of sustaining an iTBI. However, once an iTBI has been sustained, it is unclear whether ethanol exposure is neuroprotective or harmful. We conducted a retrospective review of patients who presented between 2006 and 2012 and were entered into the Alfred Hospital trauma registry. The patients who presented with iTBI, as defined by a head abbreviated injury scale (AIS) score ⩾3 and all other body regions with AIS<3, and who had ethanol levels recorded on admission, were eligible for inclusion. The association between ethanol exposure as a continuous variable, and in-hospital mortality, was explored using multivariable logistic regression analysis. There were 1688 patients with iTBI who met the inclusion criteria, 577 (34.2%) of whom tested positive for ethanol. Ethanol exposure was not significantly associated with a change in the in-hospital mortality rate (adjusted odds ratio 1.01; 95% confidence interval 1.00-1.02; p=0.19). A substantial proportion of patients with iTBI were exposed to ethanol, but ethanol exposure was not independently associated with a change in mortality rate following iTBI. Any neuroprotection or harm from ethanol exposure was not conclusive, requiring further prospective trials. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

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