Implementation of a CIWA-Ar Alcohol Withdrawal Protocol in a Veterans Hospital

摘要

Objectives The South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS) implemented a Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment of Alcohol Scale, Revised (CIWA-Ar)-based alcohol-withdrawal protocol in June 2013. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of the new protocol. The primary objective was the evaluation of whether implementation of the CIWA-Ar alcohol-withdrawal protocol decreased the average length of hospital stay for patients admitted with alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) as compared with treatment before the introduction of the protocol. Secondary endpoints evaluated benzodiazepine (BZD)-prescribing practices, use of adjunctive medications for AWS, and safety outcomes.