Anticonvulsants for alcohol withdrawal
Loading...
Date
Authors
Polycarpou, A.
Papanikolaou, P.
Ioannidis, J. P.
Contopoulos-Ioannidis, D. G.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Type
Type of the conference item
Journal type
peer-reviewed
Educational material type
Conference Name
Journal name
Cochrane Database Syst Rev
Book name
Book series
Book edition
Alternative title / Subtitle
Description
BACKGROUND: Alcohol withdrawal syndrome is a cluster of symptoms that occurs in alcohol-dependent people after cessation or reduction in alcohol use. This systematic review focuses on the evidence of anticonvulsants' use in the treatment of alcohol withdrawal symptoms. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of anticonvulsants in the treatment of alcohol withdrawal. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library Issue 3, 2004); MEDLINE (1966 to October 2004); EMBASE (1988 to October 2004) and EU-PSI PSI-Tri database with no language and publication restrictions and references of articles. SELECTION CRITERIA: All randomized controlled trials examining the effectiveness, safety and overall risk-benefit of an anticonvulsant in comparison with a placebo or other pharmacological treatment or another anticonvulsant were considered. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: The authors independently assessed trial quality extracted data. MAIN RESULTS: Forty-eight studies, involving 3610 people were included. Despite the considerable number of randomized controlled trials, there was a variety of outcomes and of different rating scales that led to a limited quantitative synthesis of data. For the anticonvulsant versus placebo comparison, therapeutic success tended to be more common among the anticonvulsant-treated patients (relative risk (RR) 1.32; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.92 to 1.91), and anticonvulsant tended to show a protective benefit against seizures (RR 0.57; 95% CI 0.27 to 1.19), but no effect reached formal statistical significance. For the anticonvulsant versus other drug comparison, CIWA-Ar score showed non-significant differences for the anticonvulsants compared to the other drugs at the end of treatment (weighted mean difference (WMD) -0.73; 95% CI -1.76 to 0.31). For the subgroup analysis of carbamazepine versus benzodiazepine, a statistically significant protective effect was found for the anticonvulsant (WMD -1.04; 95% CI -1.89 to -0.20), p = 0.02), but this was based on only 260 randomized participants. There was a non-significant decreased incidence of seizures (RR 0.50; 95% CI 0.18 to 1.34) favouring the patients that were treated with anticonvulsants than other drugs, and side-effects tended to be less common in the anticonvulsant-group (RR 0.56; 95% CI 0.31 to 1.02). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: It is not possible to draw definite conclusions about the effectiveness and safety of anticonvulsants in alcohol withdrawal, because of the heterogeneity of the trials both in interventions and the assessment of outcomes. The extremely small mortality rate in all these studies is reassuring, but data on other safety outcomes are sparse and fragmented.
Description
Keywords
Alcohol Withdrawal Delirium/*drug therapy, Alcohol Withdrawal Seizures/*drug therapy, Anticonvulsants/*therapeutic use, Humans, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
Subject classification
Citation
Link
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16034965
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD005064.pub2/abstract
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD005064.pub2/abstract
Language
en
Publishing department/division
Advisor name
Examining committee
General Description / Additional Comments
Institution and School/Department of submitter
Πανεπιστήμιο Ιωαννίνων. Σχολή Επιστημών Υγείας. Τμήμα Ιατρικής