Arrhythmias in patients with in-hospital alcohol withdrawal are associated with increased mortality: Insights from 1.5 million hospitalizations for alcohol withdrawal syndrome

BACKGROUND: Atrial arrhythmias are commonly noted in patients with alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS), requiring inpatient admission. OBJECTIVE: The burden of arrhythmias and the association with in-hospital outcomes are incompletely defined in patients hospitalized with AWS. METHODS: The nationwide inpatient sample database was accessed from September 2015 to December 2018 to identify hospitalizations for AWS. We studied a cohort of patients with arrhythmias noted during hospitalization using the appropriate International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision billing codes. We compared patient characteristics, outcomes, and hospitalization costs between alcohol withdrawal hospitalizations with and without documented arrhythmias. Propensity score matching (PSM) and multivariate regression were performed to control confounders and develop odds ratios (OR), respectively. RESULTS: < .0001) were higher in AWS with arrhythmias. CONCLUSION: Arrhythmia in AWS is associated with higher in-hospital mortality and poorer in-hospital outcomes.