PPubMed15 Oct 2026Cited 1×

Forensic integrity of blood alcohol sampling in the emergency department, Part I: Epidemiology and factors affecting turnaround time

Maria Sapio, Anna Criniti, Simona Giglio, Gioacchino Galardo, Orietta Gandini, Antonio Angeloni, Cristiano Ialongo

Abstract

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Preanalytical turnaround time for blood alcohol sampling in an Italian ED averages 204 min and is unaffected by clinical or temporal factors, highlighting the need for pharmacokinetic‑based quality goals.

What’s new

i.Conducted a retrospective epidemiological study of 115 injured drivers in 2025.
ii.Measured intra‑ED and overall preanalytical turnaround times for blood alcohol sampling.
iii.Identified that only serum alcohol concentration was significantly associated with ED duty shift and day of week.
iv.Highlighted that turnaround time is insensitive to clinical and temporal stressors, suggesting baseline performance degradation.

How they did it

The authors performed a retrospective analysis of 115 drivers admitted to a university hospital in 2025, recording timestamps from accident to sample collection and categorizing preanalytical turnaround time into intra‑ED and extra‑ED intervals. They examined associations with clinical severity, duty shifts, weekends, and licensure status, and measured serum alcohol concentration using enzymatic methods.

What they found

Median intra‑ED turnaround time was 139 minutes.
Median overall preanalytical turnaround time (accident to sampling) was 204 minutes.
The cohort was 77.4 % male with a median age of 36 years.
Serum alcohol concentration at ED admission was significantly associated with ED duty shift (P = 0.045) and day of the week (P = 0.035).

in plain words

When police need proof of drunk driving, they take blood from injured drivers in the hospital. This study looked at how long it takes to collect the blood and found it usually takes about three hours, and the delay doesn’t change much depending on how busy the hospital is. Because alcohol disappears from the blood over time, the researchers say we need better ways to decide how fast the sample must be taken.

why it matters

Because ethanol levels decrease over time, delays in sampling can lead to false‑negative forensic evidence; establishing quantitative, pharmacokinetic‑based turnaround‑time goals can improve the reliability of legal blood‑alcohol determinations.

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blood alcohol content hospital emergency service preanalytical phase retrospective study substance abuse detection

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