Alcoholics Given Alcohol Shots to Prevent Withdrawal
Researchers say that about 16 percent of all patients undergoing non-emergency surgery experience alcohol-withdrawal syndrome. The study found that among patients injected with alcohol to counteract withdrawal symptoms, surgery failure rates fell from 20 percent to 7 percent, and treatment stays were reduced from 7 days to 3 days on average.
"Intravenous (alcohol), when administered in a controlled and monitored fashion, is an effective and safe way to prevent alcohol withdrawal syndrome," the study concluded.
Lead researcher Ari Halldorsson of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center noted that the use of alcohol injections to counter withdrawal among alcoholics is "highly controversial" and limited "almost exclusively to surgeons and surgical subspecialists."
As part of the study, researchers developed a protocol for administering alcohol before surgery, based on blood-alcohol levels and a clinical assessment of withdrawal symptoms.
The study appears in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.¤
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Relapse Rates Lower When Treatment Follows Detox
Patients who received addiction treatment within 30 days of going through detoxification took 40 percent longer to relapse if they fell off the wagon at all, according to research from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
The findings applied to patients who received comprehensive treatment services on two or more days in the 30 days following detox.
However, the study found that only about a quarter of patients are enrolled in comprehensive treatment programs within 30 days of completing detox.
The research was published in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment.¤
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