Emergency Department Management of Patients With Alcohol Intoxication, Alcohol Withdrawal, and Alcohol Use Disorder: A White Paper Prepared for the American Academy of Emergency Medicine.

Alcohol is the most-used intoxicant in the world, and the repercussions of unhealthy alcohol use are of corresponding magnitude. A sixfold increase in all-cause mortality and 6% of overall deaths are related to the use of alcohol, which is the most important risk factor for ill health among working-age people worldwide (1–3). Alcohol intoxication (AI) is strongly tied to serious trauma (especially motor vehicle collisions), suicide, domestic abuse and sexual assault, and crime, and thousands of Americans die from alcohol poisoning every year (4–7).