Pharmacotherapy for Alcohol Use Disorder in the Context of Liver Disease

Abstract

Alcohol consumption is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in our society and alcohol-related liver disease is a major contributor to this. Abstinence is the most important treatment goal for patients with alcohol-related liver disease and appropriate pharmacotherapy can help to achieve this. There are a number of established and emerging pharmacotherapies for the treatment of alcohol use disorder that can be used in patients with liver disease although few have been studied extensively in this population. There are conflicting data on the effectiveness of these therapies and alcohol pharmacotherapy is an evolving field where more research is needed. The only effective treatment for alcoholic liver disease is abstinence. High-quality comparative studies of pharmacotherapies and further inclusion of patients with comorbidity are needed. While current pharmacotherapies are of modest effect, many can be safely used in patients with alcoholic liver disease which is a major cause of morbidity and mortality where the only effective treatment is abstinence.