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A A Wartenberg

Publications and source records attributed to A A Wartenberg.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

Detoxification of alcoholics: improving care by symptom-triggered sedation.

This study evaluated a staff training program on alcohol detoxification. Training consisted of didactic presentations on the pathophysiology of alcohol withdrawal syndrome and information on use of the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol (CIWA-A). Treatment course was assessed on 100 patients admitted before or after the training. Whereas 73% of patients were given drug therapy before, only 13% of patients received drug therapy after. Significantly more benzodiazepine was administered before training (M = 108.48 mg) than after training (M = 42.97 mg). After excluding those who received no drug therapy, patients who received benzodiazepine after the training received significantly higher amounts of benzodiazepine (M = 252.50 mg) than those who received drug before (M = 144.64 mg). The average number of hours from the first benzodiazepine dose to the last was reduced from 13 to 5 hr. Clinical implications of matching patient symptomatology with appropriate drug therapy, thus preventing both over- and under-treatment for alcohol withdrawal symptoms, are discussed.

Alcoholism↗
PubMedDate not supplied

HIV disease in the intravenous drug user: role of the primary care physician.

Intravenous drug users (IVDUs) are increasingly encountered in the medical arena, on both an inpatient and an outpatient basis, in large part because of complications related to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Clinicians must work to overcome long-standing antipathy towards this population in order to provide appropriate care, as well as to develop an understanding of the process of addiction and of the addict as a patient. The use of relationship skills, limit setting, and contingency contracting and an ability to choose and gain access to appropriate and/or available chemical dependency treatment options are important in the care of these patients. Finally, an adequate biomedical knowledge base of the medical complications of IVDUs, as well as the care of drug-related complications and withdrawal and overdose syndromes, is necessary to provide optimal care. In addition, the IVDU may have certain features of HIV-related disease that differ from those of other groups, and the clinician must be familiar with these features. Provision of such care is within the scope of the primary care clinician and can improve patient retention in treatment and the outcomes of such treatment, as well as both patient and clinician satisfaction.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗