[Alcohol-related injuries--an emergency department study in the Lausanne University Hospital].

Alcohol-related injuries are responsible for a large share of the global mortality and morbidity burden. Scant information existed, however, for Switzerland. Based on 3653 injured patients and 3519 patients attending the emergency department of the Lausanne University Hospital for other reasons, alcohol attributable fractions with regard to the alcohol consumption in the 6 hours before the injury were estimated. Among men 17% of all injures were alcohol attributable, and 12% among women. Relative risks increased in dose-response relationship with alcohol intake. Leisure time related injuries were most likely to be alcohol attributable. Most of the alcohol-related injuries occurred at already small ethanol quantities ingested.