Can Chest Trauma Patients Provide Breath Sample with Lion SD-400 Alcometer?

Abstract

Various investigators have addressed the minimum lung function required to activate breathalyzers, and the impact of comorbid respiratory illness. We postulated that subjects with significant chest trauma may have difficulty in providing an adequate breathalyzer sample. A prospective self-controlled study of 20 patients who underwent thoracotomy was conducted between August 2005 and December 2005, using a Lion Alcometer SD-400. The mean age of the patients was 69.3 years (range, 37–83 years). Preoperatively, their mean forced expiratory volume was 1.97 L (range, 1.19–2.46 L), and peak expiratory flow rate was 240 L min⁻¹ (range, 126-520 L min⁻¹). Postoperatively, mean forced expiratory volume was 1.14 L (range, 0.34–2.2 L) and peak expiratory flow rate was 179 L min⁻¹ (range, 36-492 L min⁻¹). These decreases were highly significant. All patients activated the breathalyzer device preoperatively, but only 2 (10%) could activate it postoperatively. Extrapolating this to patients with chest injury, most may find it impossible to activate breathalyzers.