JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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Review Meta Analysis
Will This Hospitalized Patient Develop Severe Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome?: The Rational Clinical Examination Systematic Review.
Although severe alcohol withdrawal syndrome (SAWS) is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality, most at-risk patients will not develop this syndrome. Predicting its occurrence is important because the mortality rate is high when untreated. ⋯ Assessment tools that use a combination of symptoms and signs are useful for identifying patients at risk of developing severe alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Most studies of these tools were not fully validated, limiting their generalizability.