Early outcome in patients with traumatic brain injury, pre-injury alcohol abuse and intoxication at time of injury

Abstract

Primary objective: To investigate the relationship between pre-injury alcohol abuse and intoxication at time of injury on duration of post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) as well as on early functional and neurobehavioural outcomes in persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI) hospitalized in an acute care setting.

Methods and procedure: Sixty persons with mild, moderate and severe TBI admitted to the intensive care unit were part of this retrospective study.

Main outcomes: Duration of PTA, length of stay (LOS), Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS-E) score, the FIM dagger score as well as early neuropsychological outcome measured by the Neurobehavioural Rating Scale Revised (NBRS-R).

Results: 2-factor ANOVAs and chi-squares tests showed that PTA and LOS were significantly longer in the group of patients with pre-injury alcohol abuse, regardless of whether they were intoxicated or not at the time of injury. Moreover, the FIM total and cognitive scores were significantly higher for the group intoxicated on admission compared to the sober group. However, GOS-E scores and results on the NBRS-R were similar.

Conclusions: Despite a longer PTA and LOS, global and neurobehavioural outcomes at discharge from acute care were not different for those with pre-injury alcohol abuse.