Effect of alcohol swabbing of venepuncture site on serum alcohol concentration: A quantitative analytical study

Aims & Objective: To find out whether there is any significant effect of alcohol swab application at venepuncture site prior to sampling on serum alcohol concentration. Materials & Methods: Ten adult and healthy volunteers were selected randomly from staff working in Department of Forensic Medicine of Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Government Medical College and Sassoon General Hospitals, Pune. Samples collected were preserved in commercially available Grey topped bulbs with preservatives as Sodium Fluoride; and were processed on same day for Serum Alcohol Concentration estimation by Alcohol Dehydrogenase method. Results: Irrespective of alcohol content of swab applied for cleaning, insignificant values of serum alcohol concentration as <10 mg/dl i.e. lower than the limit of detection of the enzymatic assay were detected. Conclusion: There is no significant effect of Alcohol swab application prior to sampling at venepuncture site on serum alcohol concentration.