ABSTRACT
Alcohol (ethanol) is involved in many aspects of head injury. It is a cause of road accidents, falls, assaults and attempted suicides. It is a potentiator of brain injury (Kelly, 1995). Consumption of alcohol may confound the diagnosis of head injury, especially when consciousness is impaired. Alcohol abuse is a cause of poor outcome after head injury. Because alcohol has many diverse effects, including end-organ damage such as cirrhosis leading to coagulopathy, which may worsen intracranial bleeding, clinicians managing head injury need to consider the full range of these effects when they diagnose and manage head injury.
