The US now suffers over 10,000 new cases of traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) each year. Motor vehicle accidents, especially rollover crashes, are the leading cause of SCI in the US. Large percentages of persons who sustain SCI evidence use of beverage alcohol at the time they sustain injury. Most studies of nonfatal SCI indicated that between 25% and 50% of patients had consumed alcohol, and a large majority of persons who had been drinking had alcohol concentrations of 0.10% w/v or higher. This paper focuses on alcohol as a factor that can aggravate SCI. Experimental and epidemiologic studies provide converging lines of evidence supportive of hypotheses that elevated concentrations of alcohol hinder functional recovery from SCI. Directions for future research to advance understanding of alcohol's role as an injury-aggravating factor are suggested.
Abstract