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Severe alcohol withdraw symptom linked with increased mortality rates in patients with hip fractures
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NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. —Alcoholic patients who had delirium tremens during admission for hip fracture had an increased mortality rate, according to a speaker here.
“A lot of patients with alcohol-use disorders have symptoms of alcohol withdraw when they reduce their alcohol consumption,” Regis Renard, MD, said at the International Geriatric Fracture Society Annual Meeting that preceded the Orthopaedic Trauma Association Annual Meeting. “Because of this, as clinicians, it is essential to be able to recognize this and treat these severe withdraw states, as these can lead to costly hospitalizations and death.”
About 20% of men and 10% of women in Western societies will have an alcohol use-related disorder, he said. These conditions can decrease a life span up to a decade and are associated with high rates of medical problems. Patients who have chronic alcohol abuse are at the most risk for delirium tremens, Renard noted.
“Untreated patients with delirium tremens or seizures have mortality that go up to 24%, and that is when patients are not treated appropriately or with benzodiazepines,” Renard said.
In elderly patients, hip fractures are the most common injuries and often require intervention and in-patient hospitalization.
Renard and his colleagues obtained an institutional review board approval for their retrospective study that spanned a 10-year period. Researchers evaluated the recurrence of delirium tremens in patients who were alcoholics and had hip fractures and documented the length of hospital stay, morbidity events, mortality events and usage of critical care.
According to results, delirium tremens can frequently occur in about 16% of at-risk patients who abused alcohol and sustained hip fractures. Patients with hip fractures complicated by delirium tremens had significant increases in their in-patient morbidity and increased use in resource utilization.
“For further studies, we are currently conducting a national database review to see if the data transfers similar nationally, and we are also trying to add another cohort to match non-alcoholic using hip fractures patients.” Renard said. – by Nhu Te
Reference:
Renard R. Alcoholics that experience delirium tremens during admission for hip fractures experience higher morbidity. Presented at: International Geriatric Fracture Society Meeting; Oct. 5, 2016; National Harbor, Md.
Disclosure: Renard reports no relevant financial disclosures.