Syeda Arshiya Farheen, MD Fellow, Geriatric Psychiatry Yale School of Medicine New Haven, Connecticut
Aarti Chhatlani, MD Staff Psychiatrist, Mindful Health Solutions San Francisco, California Founder, Mindful Brain Health Cedar Park, Texas
Rajesh R. Tampi, MD, MS, DFAPA, DFAAGP Chairman, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Cleveland Clinic Akron General Chief, Section for Geriatric Psychiatry, Cleveland Clinic Professor of Medicine Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio
Disclosures The authors report no financial relationships with any companies whose products are mentioned in this article, or with manufacturers of competing products.
Our review focused a large collection of data from multiple databases and RCTs only. However, its limitations include:
there was no measure of heterogeneity
the studies had short treatment duration
most studies evaluated predominantly male participants
some studies were underpowered.
Our review laid a groundwork for future research that includes more well-designed RCTs and/or meta-analyses of recent studies that evaluated the use anticonvulsants for treating AWS.
Bottom Line
Evidence suggests certain anticonvulsants may be an effective alternative to benzodiazepines for the treatment of mild to moderate alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Gabapentin may be the safest anticonvulsant to prescribe. Other anticonvulsants to consider include carbamazepine, sodium valproate, and lamotrigine, but for these agents, the risks might outweigh the benefits.
