Alcohol (medical use)
 Full structural formula of ethanol | |
| Clinical data | |
|---|---|
| Routes of administration | topical, intravenous, by mouth |
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| Legal status | |
| Legal status |
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| Pharmacokinetic data | |
| Metabolism | Liver |
| Identifiers | |
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| PubChem CID | |
| DrugBank | |
| ChemSpider | |
| Chemical and physical data | |
| Formula | C2H6O |
| Molar mass | 46.07 g·mol−1 |
| 3D model (JSmol) | |
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Alcohols, in various forms, are used within medicine as antiseptics, disinfectants, and as an antidote.[1] Applied to the skin it is used to disinfect skin before a needle stick and before surgery. It may be used both to disinfect the skin of the patient and the hands of the healthcare providers. It can also be used to clean other areas.[2] Taken by mouth or injected into a vein it is used to treat methanol or ethylene glycol toxicity when fomepizole is not available.[1]
Side effects include skin irritation.[2] Care should be taken with electrocautery as ethanol is flammable.[1] Types of alcohol used include ethanol, denatured ethanol, 1-propanol, and isopropyl alcohol.[3][4] It is effective against a range of microorganisms though does not inactivate spores. Concentrations of 60 to 90% work best.[4]
Alcohol has been used as an antiseptic as early as 1363 with evidence to support its use becoming available in the late 1800s.[5] It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the most effective and safe medicines needed in a health system.[3] The wholesale cost in the developing world is about 1.80 to 9.50 USD per litre of 70% denatured ethanol.[6] In the United Kingdom it costs the NHS about 3.90 pound per liter of 99% denatured alcohol.[1] Commercial formulations of alcohol based hand rub or with other agents such as chlorhexidine are available.[4][7]
References
- 1 2 3 4 British national formulary : BNF 69 (69 ed.). British Medical Association. 2015. pp. 42, 838. ISBN 9780857111562.
- 1 2 WHO Model Formulary 2008 (PDF). World Health Organization. 2009. p. 321. ISBN 9789241547659. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
- 1 2 "WHO Model List of Essential Medicines (19th List)" (PDF). World Health Organization. April 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
- 1 2 3 McDonnell, G; Russell, AD (January 1999). "Antiseptics and disinfectants: activity, action, and resistance.". Clinical Microbiology Reviews. 12 (1): 147–79. PMID 9880479.
- ↑ Block, Seymour Stanton (2001). Disinfection, Sterilization, and Preservation. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. p. 14. ISBN 9780683307405.
- ↑ "Alcohol, Denatured". International Drug Price Indicator Guide. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
- ↑ Bolon, MK (September 2016). "Hand Hygiene: An Update.". Infectious disease clinics of North America. 30 (3): 591–607. PMID 27515139.