Management of alcohol withdrawal syndromes in general hospital settings
The covid-19 pandemic was associated with an unprecedented increase in alcohol consumption and associated morbidity, including hospitalizations for alcohol withdrawal. Clinicians based in hospitals must be ready to identify, assess, risk-stratify, and treat alcohol withdrawal with evidence based interventions. In this clinically focused review, we outline the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, screening, assessment, and treatment of alcohol withdrawal in the general hospital population. We review and summarize studies addressing the drug treatment of alcohol withdrawal syndromes in inpatient populations, with a focus on the use of benzodiazepine drugs, phenobarbital, antiseizure drugs, and α-2 adrenergic drugs. Emerging areas of interest include the use of novel alcohol biomarkers, risk stratification instruments, alternative symptom severity scales, severe withdrawal syndromes resistant to benzodiazepine drugs, and treatment protocol variations–including non-sympt
