Comprehensive toxicology screening: the frequency of finding other drugs in addition to ethanol

The efficacy of performing a comprehensive toxicology screen whenever ethanol is found was evaluated in 289 consecutive emergency-room cases. Males predominated in both the "pure" (ethanol only) and the "mixed" (ethanol plus other drugs) groups. The mean ethanol concentration was significantly higher for pure cases than for mixed cases (P less than 0.01). For half of the 289 cases comprehensive screening demonstrated at least one to four other drugs per case in addition to ethanol. Barbiturates, narcotic analgesics, and stimulants in that order were the most frequently found classes of drugs. The age range 21 to 40 years accounted for most of the mixed ingestions, and ethanol concentrations less than 0.20% were more commonly associated with other drugs than were those above 0.20%. Whenever ethanol is found, comprehensive toxicology screening may yield important additional information.