Article: Injury Patterns after Falling down Stairs—High Ratio of Traumatic Brain Injury under Alcohol Influence
Posted May 17, 2023
Important study that examines the severe impact that staircase falls due to alchohol use can have on the body. Important that we examine the social environment and determinants of health to help us understand the full spectrum of occurences in the home. This study helps to highlight the severe outcome of this combination of factors, and we can begin to develop interventions in collaboration with mental health and addictions support teams.
Abstract: Falling down a staircase is a common mechanism of injury in patients with severe trauma, but the effect of varying fall height according to the number of steps on injury patterns in these patients has been little studied. In this retrospective study, prospectively collected data from a Level 1 Trauma Center in Germany were analyzed regarding the injury patterns of patients admitted through the trauma room with suspicion of multiple injuries following a fall down a flight of stairs between January 2016 and December 2019. In total 118 patients were examined which where consecutively included in this study. More than 80% of patients suffered a traumatic brain injury, which increased as a function of the number of stairs fallen. Therefore, the likelihood of intracranial hemorrhage increased with higher numbers of fallen stairs. Fall-associated bony injuries were predominantly to the face, skull and the spine. In addition, there was a high coincidence of staircase falls and alcohol intake. Due to a frequent coincidence of staircase falls and alcohol, the (pre-)clinical neurological assessment is complicated. As the height of the fall increases, severe traumatic brain injury should be anticipated and diagnostics to exclude intracranial hemorrhage and spinal injuries should be performed promptly to ensure the best possible patient outcome.
Hörauf, J. A., Nau, C., Mühlenfeld, N., Verboket, R. D., Marzi, I., & Störmann, P. (2022). Injury Patterns after Falling down Stairs-High Ratio of Traumatic Brain Injury under Alcohol Influence. Journal of clinical medicine, 11(3), 697. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm11030697