Alcohol Withdrawal Delirium

- Alcohol Withdrawal Delirium
  - Serious complication
  - Can occur 2-3 days after the last drink
  - Lasts 2-3 days
  - Risk increases with greater alcohol dependence

Manifestation	Interprofessional Care
Disorientation Visual, tactile, or auditory hallucinations Seizures	Continued use of benzodiazepines Carbamazepine (Tegretol) or valproate (Depakote) to treat seizures Antipsychotic agents e.g. chlorpromazine (Thorazine), haloperidol (Haldol) Chlordiazepoxide (Librium) if psychosis persists after benzodiazepine administration

Body System	Effects of Alcohol
Cardiac	Hypertension, atrial fibrillation, cardiomyopathy, stroke, coronary artery disease, sudden cardiac death
Neurologic	Alcoholic dementia, Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Impaired cognitive function, psychomotor skills, abstract thinking, and memory. Depression, anxiety, attention deficit, labile moods, seizures, insomnia, peripheral neuropathy, chronic headache
Immunologic	Increased susceptibility to infections, depressed immune function
Hematologic	Bone marrow depression, anemia, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, blood clotting abnormalities
Hepatic	Alcoholic hepatitis, cirrhosis, liver cancer
Musculoskeletal	Myopathy, osteoporosis, gout
Gastrointestinal	Gastritis, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), peptic ulcer, esophagitis, esophageal varices, gastrointestinal bleeding, pancreatitis, oropharyngeal cancer, colorectal cancer
Urinary	Diuretic effect from inhibition of antidiuretic hormone
Nutrition	Diabetes mellitus, anorexia, malnutrition, vitamin deficiencies (especially thiamine)
Reproductive	Breast cancer, testicular atrophy, decreased beard growth, decreased libido, decreased sperm count, gynecomastia
Integumentary	Palmar erythema, spider angiomas, rosacea, rhinophyma

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