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A Case Report of an Alcoholic Patient Presenting to Emergency Room with Seizures after Taking Disulfiram

Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Case Report
Abstract: Disulfiram is an oral drug used for treating alcoholism that causes unpleasant symptoms when alcohol is consumed.Alcohol disulfiram reactions can range from mild to moderate severity, but this case highlights severity due to complexity of clinical presentation in the background of conflicted medical history.Here, we present a case of 47-year-old hypertensive, diabetic chronic alcoholic male who was presented to the emergency room with ongoing seizure after taking alcohol with disulfiram (250 mg) intake.Computed tomography (CT) scan of brain showed subdural haematoma (SDH).He required intubation and ventilation in the course of hospital stay; whereas his morbidity was contributed to disulfiram intake, along with alcohol intake and SDH due to assault in medicolegal cases, diagnosis making can be challenging and requires meticulous history taking and examination for timely intervention and better outcome.Highlighting the complexities in diagnosing seizures as a reaction to disulfiram vs those caused by the SDH.Stressing the importance of thorough history taking, clinical evaluation, and imaging to rule out diagnosis of seizure.All clinical profile events during hospital stay were recorded from the hospital information system.Patient's identity was concealed at all times, and permission of hospital authorities was taken to publish the case.Multidisciplinary approach was applied for comprehensive evaluation and management of patients, and patient was discharged after both conservative and operative interventions in vitally stable condition.Avoiding misattribution of seizures to disulfiram reactions is essential to prevent diagnostic delays and potential medicolegal disputes.
DOI: 10.5005/njem-11015-0056
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4414156345
FWCI:
Cites: 6
Cited by:
Related to: 10