TY - JOUR
T1 - Analyses of the relationship between blood alcohol and nasal breath alcohol concentrations
T2 - Implications for assessment of trauma cases
AU - Gerberich, Susan Goodwin
AU - Gerberich, Bradley K.
AU - Fife, Daniel
AU - Cicero, James J.
AU - Patrick Lilja, G.
AU - van Berkom, Lowell C.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2018 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 1989/3
Y1 - 1989/3
N2 - To prevent serious complications and facilitate efficient and effective management of patients admitted to the emergency department or intensive care settings, it is extremely important to differentiate, quickly, between elevated concentrations of alcohol in the blood and compromised neurological status due to brain injury or other pathology. This research analyzed the relationship between blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) estimated from venous blood samples and those estimated from breath samples that were obtained using the Alco-Sensor III device with an attached tube for passive nasal breath sampling. Blood and breath samples, as well as brief medical histories and demographic and environmental data, were obtained and recorded for 35 adult trauma patients admitted to two major urban emergency departments. Passively expired nasal breath provided an excellent estimate of BAC measured from venous blood (range, 0 to 0.32) as evidenced in the extremely high regression coefficient (r = 0.99; slope = 1.22; p < 0.0001). BAC assessment and monitoring, through the application of passive nasal breath sampling, provides a means of rapidly estimating BAC, and thus can facilitate diagnosis and the initiation of appropriate management and treatment.
AB - To prevent serious complications and facilitate efficient and effective management of patients admitted to the emergency department or intensive care settings, it is extremely important to differentiate, quickly, between elevated concentrations of alcohol in the blood and compromised neurological status due to brain injury or other pathology. This research analyzed the relationship between blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) estimated from venous blood samples and those estimated from breath samples that were obtained using the Alco-Sensor III device with an attached tube for passive nasal breath sampling. Blood and breath samples, as well as brief medical histories and demographic and environmental data, were obtained and recorded for 35 adult trauma patients admitted to two major urban emergency departments. Passively expired nasal breath provided an excellent estimate of BAC measured from venous blood (range, 0 to 0.32) as evidenced in the extremely high regression coefficient (r = 0.99; slope = 1.22; p < 0.0001). BAC assessment and monitoring, through the application of passive nasal breath sampling, provides a means of rapidly estimating BAC, and thus can facilitate diagnosis and the initiation of appropriate management and treatment.
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U2 - 10.1097/00005373-198903000-00010
DO - 10.1097/00005373-198903000-00010
M3 - Article
C2 - 2926847
AN - SCOPUS:0024541905
VL - 29
SP - 338
EP - 343
JO - Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery
JF - Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery
SN - 2163-0755
IS - 3
ER -