Half a liter of beer administered daily by gastric tube, and for six days in a row, is the special treatment that awaits certain patients in the intensive care units of the University Hospital of Basel. The idea may seem absurd, but it is a completely serious study which is being carried out until 2027. And with an organic beer provided by a local brewer, please!
The goal: to calm patients and try to prevent delirium. This phenomenon is in fact not uncommon in the service and it increases the risk of mortality. In addition, a disoriented patient who has hallucinations can represent a heavy burden for the healthcare staff. This also extends the length of stays and increases medical costs. “The origin of delusions is multifactorial. Currently, five pathological mechanisms are being discussed, all of which are probably interlinked, and in particular linked to disturbances in the brain, says Martin Siegemund, chief physician of the intensive care unit.
The latter explains that, basically, the dose of beer is intended for patients who regularly drink small quantities of alcohol (1 to 2dl per day). But when the hospital does not know whether the person is part of this category, when in doubt, they are given the same dose of binche. The first guinea pigs received it in April 2023 and, to date, 17 people have participated in the study. The plan now targets 25 per year. The doctor specifies that people of the Muslim faith and former alcoholics, now abstinent, are excluded from the study.
But don’t we fear drunkenness in intensive care? “For a 50kg person, this represents around 0.14 per thousand. This is very little compared to the other sedative drugs that we have to administer to patients,” concludes the chief physician. The latter cannot, however, say more about the results already collected. As a reminder, the Basel hospital is also researching the impact of LSD on people suffering from severe anxiety.
Bad idea, according to an addictologist
Infusing pure alcohol to prevent delirium was done 30 or 40 years ago, remembers Jean-Bernard Daeppen, head of the addiction medicine department at CHUV. By being interested in this study, the latter adopts a critical look. “Among patients who experience delirium, there is probably a significant proportion who suffer from alcohol dependence. By giving them beer, we avoid the withdrawal that could have been anticipated with benzodiazepines. Hospitalization is an opportune time to detect and treat addiction.” The addictologist adds: “The study also seems to expose patients who do not consume alcohol, which represents inappropriate risk-taking.”
