AMBULATORY MEDICAL DETOXIFICATION FOR ALCOHOL

In the past decade, ambulatory medical detoxification for alcohol with drawal has become increasingly utilized due to pressures to contain co st of treatment and research demonstrating its effectiveness. The rese arch that describes this area spans the last 15 years. This article re views the available literature on ambulatory detoxification and attemp ts to summarize and synthesize what is known about this area in order to make ambulatory medical detoxification readily reproducible in clin ical practice. Finally, this article concludes with an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of outpatient alcohol detoxification as compared to inpatient treatment.