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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Efficacy and Safety of Pharmacological Interventions for the Treatment of the Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome

About this resource:

Systematic Review

Source: The Cochrane Collaborative

Last Reviewed: June 2011

Workgroups: Substance Use Workgroup

In this Cochrane systematic review, the Cochrane Collaborative found that, compared with placebo or antipsychotics, benzodiazepines protect against seizures in people with alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Researchers also found that benzodiazepines were potentially protective for many outcomes compared to antipsychotics. They noted that they couldn’t draw definite conclusions about the effectiveness and safety of benzodiazepines because of differences across trial interventions and outcomes.

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Objectives related to this resource (1)

Reduce the proportion of people who had alcohol use disorder in the past year — SU‑13
Little or no detectable change

Suggested Citation

1.

Amato, L., Minozzi, S. & Davoli, M. (2011). Efficacy and safety of pharmacological interventions for the treatment of the Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2011 (6). DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD008537.pub2.