phenylephrine-hydrochloride and Alcoholism

Clinical and experimental evidence has suggested that the use of cimetidine might be harmful to patients with acute pancreatitis. We conducted a randomized study comparing cimetidine to nasogastric (NG) suction in 95 patients with 103 episodes of mild to moderately severe, acute or relapsing pancreatitis (86.4% alcohol related). The groups were comparable on entry to the study, and daily evaluation of several clinical and laboratory criteria revealed no consistent differences between the two groups. When these same criteria were evaluated for time of return to normal, if abnormal on entry to the study, no differences were found. The cimetidine group had a significantly shorter stay in the hospital than did the NG group (6.8 +/- 2.7 vs 8.5 +/- 4.8 days). Neither the incidence of relapse or complication nor the duration and extent of hyperamylasemia were significantly different between patients treated with cimetidine or NG suction. We conclude that cimetidine is safe to use in patients with mild to moderately severe alcohol-related pancreatitis, but it offers minimal advantage over NG suction.

Topics: Acute Disease; Alcoholism; Cimetidine; Clinical Trials as Topic; Guanidines; Humans; Length of Stay; Nose; Pancreatitis; Random Allocation; Stomach; Suction

Topics: Acute Disease; Adult; Alcoholism; Amylases; Clinical Enzyme Tests; Clinical Trials as Topic; Drainage; Evaluation Studies as Topic; Humans; Informed Consent; Intubation, Gastrointestinal; Meperidine; Methods; Nose; Pain; Pancreatitis; Prospective Studies; Time Factors

Among patients with head and neck cancer comorbid alcohol use disorder is frequent which contributes to higher risk of developing perioperative alcohol withdrawal syndrome/delirium or delirium due to medical conditions. Although guidelines emphasize prevention and treatment of alcohol withdrawal in hospitalized patients, a validated systematic approach for management of these patients is still lacking. Our aim was to formatively evaluate our newly developed systematic approach in view of nurses' adherence to screening patients for regular alcohol consumption and managing their withdrawal symptoms using the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment of Alcohol Scale, Revised.. We conducted a formative evaluation to improve the project's design and performance and used a retrospective chart review in a consecutive sample of all adult inpatients with head and neck cancer being assigned for surgery in a university hospital. Our bundle of interventions consisted of nurses' screenings for regular alcohol consumption, withdrawal risk assessment, offering patients a substitution therapy, nurses' assessments of withdrawal symptoms and symptom oriented withdrawal management. Proximate endpoints were analyzed descriptively at each component of the bundle in terms of frequencies and severity of withdrawal symptoms, frequencies of nurses' and doctors' screenings and nurses' assessments performed as required.. Between 2013 and 2014, 87 inpatients met inclusion criteria and screenings by doctors/ nurses revealed 49 alcohol consumers, where six screenings were omitted by nurses and six by doctors. Twenty-one consumers were at risk and six of them developed an alcohol withdrawal syndrome. None of the 87 showed an alcohol withdrawal delirium, but five developed a delirium due to medical conditions. Nurses correctly conducted all preventive elements of the intervention bundle in 14 (58%) patients at risk but overall, only performed 50% of the required assessments.. Although nurses safely managed patients' symptoms, nurses' adherence to the interventions was suboptimal and requires stronger leadership.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Alcoholism; Algorithms; Ear; Evaluation Studies as Topic; Female; Guideline Adherence; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Nose; Orthognathic Surgical Procedures; Pharynx; Risk Assessment; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome; Surgery Department, Hospital

Rhinophyma is a relatively common condition in the west of Scotland. The Canniesburn Plastic Surgery Unit receives 12 to 13 new patients per year for surgical treatment. The reported incidence of simultaneous carcinoma in the setting of rhinophyma is on the order of 15 to 30 percent. There are conflicting reports about the association between alcohol and rhinophyma in the literature, and these are supported with little or no statistical evidence. Retrospective epidemiologic data on 45 cases of rhinophyma are presented. An audit of case notes was performed to examine histology and also alcohol consumption in these cases. The authors found no coincidental malignancies at the time of surgery, which is contrary to many previous publications. The alcohol consumption of the rhinophyma cases was compared with that of a control group that consisted of 48 men presenting for blepharoplasty. The series did not demonstrate a positive association between alcohol and rhinophyma when compared with a similar cohort of patients presenting for blepharoplasty surgery (p > 0.20) or with statistics available from the Scottish Health Survey.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alcohol Drinking; Alcoholism; Carcinoma, Basal Cell; Comorbidity; Cross-Sectional Studies; Health Surveys; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Nose; Nose Neoplasms; Retrospective Studies; Rhinophyma; Rhinoplasty; Risk Factors; Scotland; Statistics as Topic