Management of the Alcoholic Inpatient

Abstract

The prevalence of alcohol abuse in hospitalized medical patients may range as high as 20% to 40%.¹ The majority of these patients enter the hospital for illnesses not directly related to alcohol abuse, but subsequent withdrawal from alcohol or other alcohol-related problems can complicate the hospital course. If the primary care physician has treated the alcohol abuser as an outpatient, he can use the opportunity of hospitalization to initiate or consolidate long-term treatment of alcohol abuse. Although management of acute withdrawal is the initial issue, the primary care physician must recall that alcoholism is a chronic disease. Just as diabetic ketoacidosis is an acute issue treated over the course of days, the patient must still learn to care for his diabetes for years. Similarly, the physician must be ready to educate and support the alcoholic patient in the long-term management of his disease.