MEDizzy - A 56-year-old homeless alcoholic man was brought to the

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Sedative and Hypnotic Drugs

A 56-year-old homeless alcoholic man was brought to the emergency department by police, who found him wandering in the street. The man was nauseated, tremulous, and hallucinating. He stated he was out of money and unable to buy his usual daily amount of whiskey. Which of the following would be an appropriate drug to treat the acute alcohol withdrawal of this patient?

ExplanationD The time honored principle of treating an abstinence syndrome with an agent to which the abused drug induces cross-tolerance holds for ethanol as well. A long-acting benzodiazepine, such as diazepam , is the drug most com m only used in alcohol withdrawal, but a short-acting agent such as oxazepam can be administered every 4 to 6 hours according to the stage and severity of withdrawal. Theoretically, ethanol itself should be effective but is never used because of its short duration of action and its narrow range of safety.