Intoxicated trauma patients appear to have higher survival rate
As we have already reported in a previous article that even though alcohol is extremely bad for our health, it may end up saving lives of patients. Bearing the topic in mind, a new study conducted at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center claims that trauma patients who were inebriated prior to their injuries apparently had more chances to survive as opposed to trauma patients who suffered similar injuries but were sober at that time.
Approximately 7,895 trauma patients were surveyed. All of them were similar in age and apparently had similar injuries. The experts wanted to find out if the consumption of alcohol before injury affected the result in any way. It was found that around 7 percent of the sober patients died as opposed to just 1 percent of the patients who were intoxicated.
“This study is not encouraging the use of alcohol. It is seeking to further explore earlier studies that had found alcohol may improve the body’s response to severe injuries. If alcohol is proven to improve the body’s response to traumatic injury, it could lead to treatments that help patients survive and recover more quickly,” commented Christian de Virgilio, MD, LA BioMed’s principal investigator for the study.
Dr. de Virgilio added, “This study adds further support to the possibility that alcohol could be altering the body’s response to injury in a way that helps ensure survival. Given these findings, more research is needed to determine if there is some role for alcohol in the management of trauma patients.”
It is long known that one of the biggest causes of accidents and injury is alcohol. A preceding study has claimed that about one-third of all trauma-related deaths are due to alcohol consumption.
Earlier studies discovered that trauma patients who had abused alcohol for an extended duration apparently had lower survival rates. But new studies also found that alcohol consumption may guard against death by altering the chemical response to injury.
This study was published in the October edition of The American Surgeon.
