About 50% of persons with alcohol-use disorders have symptoms of alcohol withdrawal
when
they
reduce
or
discontinue
their
alcohol
consumption;
in
3 to
5%
of
these
persons,
grand
mal
convulsions,
severe
confusion
(a
delirium),
or
both
develop.
It is essential that clinicians know how to prevent, recognize, and treat these
severe withdrawal states to minimize costly hospitalizations and avoidable deaths.