ALCOHOL WITHDRAWAL IS COMMONLY ENCOUNTERED IN GENERAL HOSPITAL SETTINGS – A FIVE-YEAR EXPERIENCE IN A MEDICAL COLLEGE

Abstract

Background: Alcohol withdrawal seizures (AWS) are dened as adult-onset seizures that occur in the setting of chronic alcohol dependence. alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) is a combination of varied physiological manifestations that occur as a response to the sudden cessation or reduction of alcohol consumption. A total of 250 consecutive patients presenting wit Materials and methods: h seizures to either emergency room or out-patient to department of General Medicine, SVS Medical College Mahabubnagar, Telangana state for ve years from rst August 2014 to 31st July 2019. All the cases were thoroughly investigated with neuroimaging and electroencephalogram apart from a detailed history and clinical examination. 74 cases (29.6%) fell in the category of alcohol withdrawal seizures. Patients were initially screened for alcohol use, using AUDIT, a 10-item questionnaire designed to detect hazardous and harmful drinkers that has been validated and is extensively used. The data was analyzed using SPSS 20.0 package for Windows. 42 male and 32 female were included in this Results: study. The mean age was 22.26 [10.46] while mean duration of alcoholism was 14 years [8.98]. 41 were from rural background, 60 were earning while 14 were dependent; 24 cases were unmarried and 42 were from nuclear family. 62 cases used to consume Indian made foreign liquor (IFL). These demographic differences did not have any change the presentation pattern of AWS. Anxiety agitation (51) was most noted followed by disorientation (48) and headache (46). GTCS was noticed in 68 (91.89 %) and focal ts were recorded in only 6 patients. Five cases of GTCS turned to status epilepticus as only focal convulsion landed in status epilepticus. CT scan of brain demonstrated atrophy in 22. All the cases responded well to parental benzodiazepines. Conclusion: 74 Cases of seizures were reported in this present study. 32(43.24%) female cases also presented with seizures as against no case in female reported earlier. Cerebral atrophy was recorded in this series in 22 while only 8 had seizure like activity in EEG recording.