[Preoperative blood alcohol levels in patients hospitalized for prolonged surgical procedures].

Self medication using anxiolytic and relaxing agents prior to surgery is a common phenomen in many patients. In our prospective study of 356 patients undergoing prolonged surgical procedures (greater than 3 h), we evaluated the preoperative ethanol level of the blood using gas-chromatography. In 39 (10.9%) of 307 tumor patients ethanol could be detected in high concentrations, indicating the ingestion of disinfectants. Among our 49 orthognathic cases blood alcohol was found in 4 cases (8.2%). Since the minimum effective dose for ethanol ist 0.1 to 0.2 g/l, the patients' legal capacity when giving informed consent for surgery and anesthesia is to be questioned and the risks of analgosedation in outpatient must be considered.