Phenobarbital for Treatment of Alcohol Withdrawal

Weaver, Michael F.; Jewell, Carolyn; Tomlinson, Judith

doi:10.1080/10884600802693066

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…1987, Mariani et al . 2006, Weaver et al . 2009), psychotropic analgesic nitrous oxide (PAN), (Gilman & Lichtigfeld 1986, 2002, 2004, Daynes 1989, Gilman 1989, Alho et al .…”

Section: Alternatives To the Benzodiazepinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(1996) argue that its safety profile is poor if taken in high doses or combined with alcohol making it unsafe for community based detoxification. Kosten & O'Connor (2003) state phenobarbital use in ASW is supported by very few controlled studies but USA advocates of phenobarbital therapy such as Weaver et al . (2009) argue that previous reviews of barbiturate efficacy have failed to consider all available evidence but they also acknowledge that the quality of methodology in these studies is variable.…”

Section: Barbituratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(2009) argue that previous reviews of barbiturate efficacy have failed to consider all available evidence but they also acknowledge that the quality of methodology in these studies is variable. Weaver et al . (2009) use barbiturate treatment for AWS in a USA teaching hospital and highlight the positive characteristics of the drug including its long half‐life, cost‐effectiveness, lack of street market value and less extensive liver metabolism process compared with benzodiazepines and conclude that their study results suggest phenobarbital to be a safe alternative to benzodiazepines for the treatment of AWS.…”

Section: Barbituratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effectiveness of pharmacological approaches in the treatment of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS): a literature review

Cooper

Vernon

2012

Psychiatric Ment Health Nurs

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Mortality statistics for excessive alcohol consumption show no signs of abatement, with a report published in 2011 from the World Health Organization (WHO) estimating that 2.5 million people worldwide died because of their alcohol consumption. Serious physiological, psychological, social and legal problems are thought to affect many more. Alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) is a potentially life-threatening condition that often occurs in those individuals who significantly reduce or stop their intake after a prolonged and excessive period of drinking. Pharmacological treatment of the AWS has traditionally been undertaken by the use of the benzodiazepines, but recent years have witnessed the emergence of several alternatives. The aim of this paper was (1) to review the evidence base supporting the use of various pharmacological agents currently employed to treat AWS, and (2) to consider the efficacy and safety of the emerging alternatives to the benzodiazepines. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO, MEDLINE and BNI databases were extensively searched in order to retrieve the maximum number of relevant articles. Reference lists from relevant literature were also used to identify other potential studies for inclusion. All studies concerned with measuring the efficacy and safety of the various pharmacological treatment options for AWS were considered and a total of 63 trials were included in this review. Findings support the use of benzodiazepines as the recommended drug of choice for the treatment of AWS in the absence of adequate evidence to support the use of alternative agents. There is a lack of evidence of a superior pharmacological agent to the benzodiazepines for the treatment of AWS. There are several studies that have shown that there are pharmacological alternatives that could compete or act as an adjunct with the benzodiazepines in terms of high efficacy and safety in the treatment of AWS, but there is a need for further quality research to be carried out before definitive conclusions can be drawn.

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“…1987, Mariani et al . 2006, Weaver et al . 2009), psychotropic analgesic nitrous oxide (PAN), (Gilman & Lichtigfeld 1986, 2002, 2004, Daynes 1989, Gilman 1989, Alho et al .…”

Section: Alternatives To the Benzodiazepinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Barbituratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Barbituratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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