Condition Lookup
Sub-Category:
Substance Abuse
Number of Conditions: 1
Alcohol poisoning
Specialty: Emergency and Urgent Care
Category: Toxicology and Overdose
Sub-category: Substance Abuse
Symptoms:
confusion; vomiting; hypothermia; seizures; slow or irregular breathing; unconsciousness
Root Cause:
Excessive ethanol consumption depresses the central nervous system, impairs respiratory function, and leads to metabolic acidosis.
How it's Diagnosed: videos
Clinical presentation, serum ethanol levels, and assessment for metabolic derangements (ABG, electrolyte panel).
Treatment:
Airway protection, intravenous fluids, thiamine and glucose supplementation, and monitoring in an intensive care setting.
Medications:
Thiamine (to prevent Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome) and glucose (to address hypoglycemia). No direct antidote for ethanol toxicity.
Prevalence:
How common the health condition is within a specific population.
Alcohol poisoning is a frequent emergency, especially among binge drinkers; accounts for thousands of deaths annually worldwide.
Risk Factors:
Factors or behaviors that increase the likelihood of developing the condition.
Binge drinking, alcohol use disorder, low body weight, and concurrent use of sedatives or opioids.
Prognosis:
The expected outcome or course of the condition over time.
Good with early intervention; severe cases can result in brain damage or death.
Complications:
Additional problems or conditions that may arise as a result of the original condition.
Hypoglycemia, hypothermia, aspiration, respiratory depression, and death.