ACUTE ETHANOL INTOXICATION INCREASES THE RISK OF INFECTION FOLLOWING PENETRATING ABDOMINAL-TRAUMA

Acute alcohol (ETOH) intoxication as a risk factor for infection in tr auma victims to our knowledge has not been previously reported. To det ermine if ETOH intoxication increases infection risk we examined data from 365 patients with penetrating abdominal trauma who were enrolled in a multi-center antibiotic study. Ninety-four patients sustained an injury to a hollow viscus. To separate acute from chronic ETOH effects , infections were divided into two categories: (1) trauma related; inf ections caused by bacterial contamination at the time of injury, while blood alcohol level (BAL) was elevated. (2) nosocomial; infections ca used by bacteria acquired during hospital stay, after BAL had normaliz ed. A BAL greater-than-or-equal-to 200 mg/dL was associated with a 2.6 -fold increase in trauma-related infections. There was no association between BAL and subsequent nosocomial infection. Since infection rates for intoxicated patients were not higher after BAL had normalized, ac ute rather than chronic effects of ETOH appear to be responsible.