Alcohol Use Disorders and Clinical Management

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is the current DSM-5 designation for problematic and pathologic alcohol use. AUDs have a high prevalence in the United States and are commonly treated in psychiatric practice. They are associated with a wide variety of medical and psychiatric comorbidities. Effective treatment depends on tailoring treatment setting, behavioral psychotherapies, and psychotropic interventions to the individual patients. Three medications are Food and Drug Administration approved for the treatment of AUDs: naltrexone, acamprosate, and disulfiram. Several other medications (anticonvulsants and baclofen) have been studied, but their role in treating AUDs is uncertain. Naltrexone and/or acamprosate should be considered first-line medications for patients without contraindications. Disulfiram can be considered a second-line or first-line treatment in patients with appropriate support or those who prefer it. All patients who are diagnosed with AUDs should be referred to mutual support groups (i.e., Alcoholics Anonymous). This review contains 3 figures, 8 tables, and 38 references. Key words: acamprosate, Alcoholics Anonymous, AUDIT, brief interventions, disulfiram, gabapentin, na