Inter-Hospital Escalation-of-Care Referrals for Severe Alcohol-Related Liver Disease with Recent Drinking During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract Alcohol sales and consumption have increased during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, but their downstream effects on alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) are unclear. We analyzed inter-hospital escalation-of-care referrals to our tertiary care inpatient liver unit across 18 months through December 2020. There was a significant rise in severe ALD with recent unhealthy drinking in our regional community during the pandemic. Short Summary: During the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the most frequent (46.9%) inter-hospital referral to our inpatient liver unit was for severe alcohol-related liver disease with contemporaneous unhealthy drinking. It was the only liver diagnosis that increased significantly during our study period, and patients were generally younger than with other liver disease etiologies.