[Relevance of hospitalization in addictologic care]

Relevance of hospitalization in addictologic care. Curing drug addictions requires long-term, mostly ambulatory, care. Regardless, hospitalization may be pertinent in certain situations. In emergency situations, it is pertinent mainly for psychiatric or somatic considerations, as a result of complications or intricacies (hospitalization in a psychiatric unit, however, either free or compulsory, cannot be prescribed until an acute intoxication has subsided). As a pre-programmed medical decision, a stay in a sanitary or a medico-social setting may constitute a milestone in withdrawal or post-withdrawal care. Hospital stay may create distance from drugs or from the failing supporting environment, particularly when the patient's history includes specific debilitating past incidents, failures in ambulatory care, or post-withdrawal complications.