How to treat alcohol withdrawal syndrome

Some friends who drink alcohol for a long time may easily develop a symptom if they stop drinking or reduce the amount of drinking in a short period of time, that is, alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Alcohol withdrawal syndrome is not likely to pose a threat to our lives, but it can easily cause us to have symptoms such as confusion, so we must find a way to treat alcohol withdrawal syndrome.

1. Treatment measures

It is important to differentiate between mild withdrawal symptoms and delirium tremens, as mild withdrawal symptoms are benign in nature and respond well to sedative medications, whereas delirium tremens has a high mortality rate and is relatively poorly responsive to medications. The principle of treatment for mild withdrawal symptoms is to ensure rest and sleep, while the treatment for patients with delirium tremens is to reduce excessive mental stress.

2. Medication

Phenytoin (phenytoin sodium) does have a preventive and therapeutic effect on alcohol withdrawal-induced epilepsy. If the patient is allergic to phenytoin (phenytoin sodium), carbamazepine can be used instead, but barbiturates should be used with caution because they may increase the risk of respiratory depression.

3. Treatment of delirium tremens

(1) The patient should be carefully examined for trauma (especially brain lacerations and subdural hematomas), infection (pneumonia or meningitis), pancreatitis, and liver disease. These complications are very common and serious, and cranial and chest X-rays and CT scans should be performed, as well as routine lumbar punctures. For patients with severe delirium tremens, body temperature, pulse, and blood pressure should be recorded every 30 minutes to enable timely detection of peripheral circulatory failure and hyperthermia, which together with trauma and infection are often the cause of death. Patients in shock should be given whole blood, fluids, and pressor drugs promptly. Hyperthermia requires the use of an ice cap or blanket in addition to treatment for the infection. Correction of water and electrolyte imbalance is crucial in treatment. Due to extreme anxiety and heavy sweating, fluid replenishment is required every day. If serum sodium is very low, sodium supplementation should be done with caution to avoid central pontine myelinolysis. In rare cases of hypoglycemia, glucose should be rapidly replaced. People who have ketoacidosis but normal or mildly elevated blood sugars usually recover quickly without insulin.

(2) It should be noted that the use of glucose solution by alcoholics is particularly dangerous. Intravenous administration of glucose can deplete the last reserves of vitamin B1 and induce Wernicke encephalopathy. Delirium tremens is not caused by vitamin deficiency, but alcoholics generally have an irregular diet, with high sugar intake (alcohol breaks down into sugars) and low vitamin B1 levels. The body's B vitamin reserves can be further reduced due to gastroenteritis, pancreatitis and diarrhea. Therefore, in any case, it is best to give B vitamins at the same time as glucose.

In the above article, we introduced what alcohol withdrawal syndrome is. We know that long-term drinkers may develop alcohol withdrawal syndrome if they stop drinking or reduce their drinking within a short period of time. The above article introduces in detail the treatment methods of alcohol withdrawal syndrome.