1Senior Resident, Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal
2Professor & Head, Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal
3P G student, Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal
4Junior Research Fellow-Toxicology Section Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal
*Corresponding Author: Email id: drmeerath@gmail.com.
Online published on 15 December, 2018.
Alcohol and substance abuse significantly increase the possibilities of involvement of a person in road traffic accidents (RTA). This study was carried out to determine the relationship between alcohol and substance abuse, and RTA, in this part of the world. All the cases of fatal RTA brought for autopsy during a period of 2 years were examined. The samples of blood, urine and viscera were analysed for the presence of drugs and alcohol. Of the total 159 cases of RTA, alcohol was positive in 70.6% of the cases and drugs in 25.5%, and both drugs and alcohol in 3.9%. The blood alcohol level was >230mg% in 11.1% of the cases, while 22.2% of the cases had blood alcohol level of >80mg%-130mg%. On the other hand, of the 15 cases that tested positive for drugs, 4 (26.7%) tested positive for nitrazepam and 73.3% tested positive for Spasmoproxyvon. The blood level of Spasmoproxyvon ranged from 1.2mg% to 4.9mg%.
It may be concluded from this study that drugs and alcohol could have played important roles in fatal RTA in this part of the country. Interestingly, in some of the victims, the blood alcohol concentration was at least 8 times the legal limit for driving in India.
Road Traffic Accidents, Autopsy, Alcohol, Drugs
