The relationship between alcohol and head injury and its effect on the conscious level

Abstract

Abstract The incidence of head injury has risen in recent years and now accounts for almost one-third of acute male surgical admissions to the Western Infirmary, Glasgow. A prospective study has established that in Glasgow alcohol is a major associated factor, 62 per cent of males and 27 per cent of females having detectable levels in the blood (> 5 mg/100 ml); in these patients the mean level was 193 mg/100 ml in men and 165 mg/100ml in women. The alcohol level was significantly higher in patients who had had ‘a fall under the influence’, or had been the victims of assault, than in those involved in traffic or other accidents. This suggests that alcohol may be an important contributory cause of head injuries in this city. Depression of the conscious level occurred at blood alcohol levels around 200 mg/ 100 ml, but a significant number of patients in coma had a serious head injury.