ALCOHOL WITHDRAWAL SYNDROME MEDICATION MANUALS
ALCOHOL WITHDRAWAL SYNDROME MEDICATION FULL

ALCOHOL WITHDRAWAL SYNDROME MEDICATION MANUALS

Other publications were randomized controlled trials, observational studies, case reports, manuals and monographs. There were four meta-analyses, nine systematic reviews and 26 review articles.

ALCOHOL WITHDRAWAL SYNDROME MEDICATION FULL

A total of 100 full text-articles, books and monographs were identified. Further search for books, monographs and articles relating to thiamine supplementation, neurobiology of alcohol withdrawal state were done by hand-search and other convenient means. Cross-references mentioned in the full text articles were checked for other relevant articles. Full text articles were obtained for the 24 articles relevant to clinical practice at this stage. Articles not relevant to the topic were excluded based on the titles and abstract available. Although “alcoholism” alone yielded 43921 articles, “alcohol withdrawal seizures” returned 103 results, “alcohol withdrawal delirium” 911 results combining these terms with the MeSH term “drug therapy” yielded 1037, 10 and 102 articles respectively. We used the following medical subject heading (MeSH) terms: “Alcoholism”, “alcohol withdrawal seizures” and “alcohol withdrawal delirium” and “drug therapy”. We searched Pubmed for articles published in English on pharmacological management of alcohol withdrawal in humans without any restriction on the publication date. We specifically sought articles relating to medications commonly used in India and those that can be recommended based on strong evidence. This review informs readers about medications to be used for treating alcohol withdrawal, their dosing strategies to be used and managing specific complications arising during alcohol withdrawal such delirum trements (DT) and alcohol withdrawal seizures. Our aim was to review the evidence base for the appropriate management of the alcohol withdrawal syndrome using pharmacotherapy. Since many people underplay or minimize their drinking behavior, they tend to develop withdrawal symptoms when hospitalized for other physical problems and not for alcoholism forming a substantial part of consultation-liaison psychiatry. This may be partly true in those who have developed dependence as they may experience withdrawal symptoms including autonomic arousal, hallucinations, seizures and delirium tremens (DT). It is a common misconception among regular drinkers that stopping alcohol causes more problems than continuing it.

Supportive care and use of vitamins is also discussed.Īlcohol dependence is a severe form of alcohol use disorder and it may first manifest when a person develops withdrawal symptoms after stopping alcohol - either due to family pressure, self-motivation, physical ill health or difficulty in procuring alcohol. Evidence favors an approach of symptom-monitored loading for severe withdrawals where an initial dose is guided by risk factors for complicated withdrawals and further dosing may be guided by withdrawal severity. Clinical institutes withdrawal assessment-alcohol revised is useful with pitfalls in patients with medical comorbidities. Benzodiazepines have the best evidence base in the treatment of alcohol withdrawal, followed by anticonvulsants.

Complicated alcohol withdrawal presents with hallucinations, seizures or delirium tremens.

Alcohol withdrawal syndrome is a clinical diagnosis. There were four meta-analyses, 9 systematic reviews, 26 review articles and other type of publications like textbooks. Full-text articles were obtained from this list and the cross-references. Articles not relevant to clinical management were excluded based on the titles and abstract available. We searched Pubmed for articles published in English on pharmacological management of alcohol withdrawal in humans with no limit on the date of publication. This article aims to review the evidence base for appropriate clinical management of the alcohol withdrawal syndrome. It forms a major part of referrals received by a consultation-liaison psychiatrist. Alcohol withdrawal is commonly encountered in general hospital settings.

Alcohol withdrawal syndrome medication