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Alcoholic Delirium and Other Withdrawal Syndromes

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Neurocritical Care

Abstract

Alcoholism is a major public health problem causing various neurological diseases (Table 1), the most frequent and most important of them being delirium tremens (DT). In our experience, more than 20% of 1720 patients admitted to the neurological intensive care unit (ICU) during a 7-year period were alcohol dependent. Of these, 78 admissions (4.5%) were because of delirium tremens. Three distinct scenarios associated with alcoholism are frequently encountered in the neurological ICU:

  1. 1.

    A known alcoholic is admitted because of an illness not directly caused by alcohol; prophylactic treatment to avoid DT is required.

  2. 2.

    An alcoholic is admitted with clear signs of alcohol withdrawal (impending delirium tremens); development of full-blown delirium tremens must be prevented.

  3. 3.

    A patient is admitted specifically because of active delirium tremens or has developed DT while being treated for another disease.

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Authors
  1. Volker Schuchardt
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  2. Dennis L. Bourke
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  3. Michael N. Diringer
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Ruprecht-Karls-University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 400, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Werner Hacke M.D. (Professor and Chairman) (Professor and Chairman)

  2. Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins Hospital, 600 North Wall Street, 21205, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Daniel F. Hanley M.D. (Associate Professor, Director Neuroscience Critical) (Associate Professor, Director Neuroscience Critical)

  3. Department of Neurology, Humboldt University Berlin, Schumannstr. 20/21, 10117, Berlin, Germany

    Karl M. Einhäupl M.D. (Professor and Chairman, Charité) (Professor and Chairman, Charité)

  4. Department of Neurology, Medical Center, University of Virginia, Box 394, 22908, Charlottesville, VA, USA

    Thomas P. Bleck M.D. (Associate Professor) (Associate Professor)

  5. Department of Neurology, Washington University, Medical Center, 660 South Euclid Avenue, P.O. Box 8111, 63110, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Michael N. Diringer M.D. (Assistant Professor) (Assistant Professor)

  6. Department of Neurology, St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, 32 Fruit Street, 02114, Boston, MA, USA

    Allan H. Ropper M.D. (Professor of Neurology) (Professor of Neurology)

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© 1994 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Schuchardt, V., Bourke, D.L., Diringer, M.N. (1994). Alcoholic Delirium and Other Withdrawal Syndromes. In: Hacke, W., Hanley, D.F., Einhäupl, K.M., Bleck, T.P., Diringer, M.N., Ropper, A.H. (eds) Neurocritical Care. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-87602-8_77

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-87602-8_77

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-87604-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-87602-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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