Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Caputo, Fabio
• Agabio, Roberta
• Vignoli, Teo
• Patussi, Valentino
• Fanucchi, Tiziana
• Cimarosti, Paolo
• Meneguzzi, Cristina
• Greco, Giovanni
• Rossin, Raffaella
• Parisi, Michele
• Mioni, Davide
• Arico’, Sarino
• Palmieri, Vincenzo Ostilio
• Zavan, Valeria
• Allosio, Pierluigi
• Balbinot, Patrizia
• Amendola, Maria Francesca
• Macciò, Livia
• Renzetti, Doda
• Scafato, Emanuele
• Testino, Gianni

Titel

Diagnosis and treatment of acute alcohol intoxication and alcohol withdrawal syndrome: position paper of the Italian Society on Alcohol

Ist Teil von

• Internal and emergency medicine, 2019-01, Vol.14 (1), p.143-160

Ort / Verlag

Cham: Springer International Publishing

Erscheinungsjahr

2019

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The chronic use of alcohol can lead to the onset of an alcohol use disorder (AUD). About 50% of subjects with an AUD may develop alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) when they reduce or discontinue their alcohol consumption and, in 3–5% of them, convulsions and delirium tremens (DTs), representing life-threatening complications, may occur. Unfortunately, few physicians are adequately trained in identifying and treating AWS. The Italian Society on Alcohol has, therefore, implemented a task force of specialists to draw up recommendations for the treatment of AWS with the following main results: (1) while mild AWS may not require treatment, moderate and severe AWS need to be pharmacologically treated; (2) out-patient treatment is appropriate in patients with mild or moderate AWS, while patients with severe AWS need to be treated as in-patients; (3) benzodiazepines, BDZs are the “gold standard” for the treatment of AWS and DTs; (4) alpha-2-agonists, beta-blockers, and neuroleptics may be used in association when BDZs do not completely resolve specific persisting symptoms of AWS; (5) in the case of a refractory form of DTs, the use of anaesthetic drugs (propofol and phenobarbital) in an intensive care unit is appropriate; (6) alternatively to BDZs, sodium oxybate, clomethiazole, and tiapride approved in some European Countries for the treatment of AWS may be employed for the treatment of moderate AWS; (7) anti-convulsants are not sufficient to suppress AWS, and they may be used only in association with BDZs for the treatment of refractory forms of convulsions in the course of AWS.