Methods
A retrospective review of the American Burn Association Burn Registry from 2002 to 2011 was conducted. Adult patients aged 21 years and above, who sustained burn injuries with no associated inhalation injury were included. Patients were stratified into 2 groups: burn patients with a blood alcohol level above the legal limit of 0.08 mg/dl on admission (group 1) versus burn patients with a blood alcohol level below the legal limit of 0.08 mg/dl on admission (group 2). Demographic characteristics and outcome variables were collected and compared between each group.
The time between injury and admission to the hospital was not available given the retrospective nature of the study. Outcome measures included in-hospital mortality rate, hospital LOS, ICU LOS, and total days on a ventilator. Infectious complications were not included in the analysis given the inconsistencies in the reports, which is a limitation of the retrospective nature of the study. Chi-squared and t-test analyses were used with significance defined as P < 0.05.
ePlasty. 2021;21(e8) © 2021 HMP Communications, LLC
