The NISS is calculated as the sum of the Tyrphostin AG-1478 ic50 squares of the three highest AIS scores regardless of the body region affected.14 Accordingly, a lower NISS accompanied by a lower ISS in this study was expected. In addition, the TRISS is calculated to determine the probability
of survival of patients from the ISS,15 blood pressure, respiratory rate, GCS score, age and mechanism of injury. This is also expected when the in-hospital mortality is similar in patients with positive and negative BAC. Also, patients who consumed alcohol before their injury were more likely to have suffered a facial injury but less likely to have suffered an injury to the critical regions of the head and neck. Additionally, patients with negative BAC had a higher frequency of traumatic brain injuries as identified by brain CT than those with positive BAC (43.7% vs 33.1%, p=0.000). Some studies have shown that serum ethanol is independently associated with increased16 17 or decreased mortality in patients with traumatic brain injuries,18 19 while another study showed that the risk of mortality was not higher in patients with positive BAC, as was the case in our study as well.20 However, the observed associations of alcohol consumption with a lower ISS and a lower frequency of traumatic brain injury do not lead
to the conclusion that alcohol consumption protected patients from sustaining severe injuries or traumatic brain injury. This is primarily because alcohol intoxication impairs one’s motor skills, reaction time, and judgement, and as a result impacts one’s ability to ride a motorcycle or drive a motor vehicle. The level of skill required to ride a motorcycle or drive a motor vehicle under the influence of the same concentration of alcohol should also be considered. In this study, motorcycle accidents comprised most of the mechanisms of injury,
in contrast to prior studies that report alcohol-related traffic injuries to be primarily limited to motor vehicle drivers.21 With regard to the Drug_discovery LOS, alcohol consumption was associated with a shorter LOS among patients with an ISS of <16. The negative association between the LOS and alcohol intoxication may be explained by the observation that an intoxicated patient has a higher chance of being hospitalised than a non-intoxicated patient, and subsequently of getting discharged once deemed to no longer be under the influence of alcohol.4 Another potential explanation for a shorter LOS among alcohol users could be an intense desire to consume alcohol while they are hospitalised,22 leading physicians to be more inclined to discharge them as soon as their medical condition permits, to prevent potential problems.22 Of note, in this study, the use of alcohol was not associated with the LICUS, regardless of the severity of injury.