title: Pharmacotherapy for alcohol addiction in a patient with alcoholic cirrhosis and massive upper gastrointestinal bleed: A case study.
abstract: Alcohol use causes a substantial burden of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The pharmacologic treatment of alcohol dependence has been increasingly studied and proven to improve outcomes in individuals with alcohol use disorder. However, the treatment of alcohol use disorder is often challenging in the context of patients with hepatic impairment as many medications to treat alcohol use disorder are hepatically metabolised or may cause liver toxicity in some instances. We present a case history of an individual with significant medical complications from alcohol use disorder and explore the dilemma faced in prescribing pharmacologic treatment of alcohol use disorder in patients with significant liver dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Young
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.|Urban Health Research Initiative, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, Canada.|British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: Evan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.affiliation: Urban Health Research Initiative, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, Canada.|British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, Canada.|Department of Family Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ahamad
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008104:Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008875:Middle Aged
keywords: addiction treatment; alcohol-related disorder; alcoholism; drug therapy; liver cirrhosis