Impact of a One-month Long Detoxification Diazepam Treatment on Early Alcohol Relapse

Summary

Alcohol-dependence is a medical condition that can lead to the occurrence of an alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) in case of alcohol drinking cessation. Diazepam is the reference medication for preventing or treating AWS. The recommended average diazepam treatment duration is usually around one week, and this duration is generally not considered to impact the subsequent relapse rate in alcohol drinking. However, several previous studies have found that patients experienced frequent anxious symptoms during the weeks following detoxification. Such symptoms may foster early relapse in alcohol drinking. Furthermore, it has been suggested that this anxiety could pertain to late withdrawal symptoms. The DIAMA study hypothesizes that extending the diazepam detoxification treatment to one month can significantly reduce the cumulated relapse rate in alcohol drinking over the three following months.

Timeline

Start

2014-07

Primary completion

2016-07

Completion

2016-07

Publications

• Results Simioni N, Labreuche J, Behal H, Cottencin O, Rolland B. Thirty- Versus Ten-Day Diazepam Treatment for Alcohol Detoxification and a Comparison of Drinking Patterns, Craving, and Anxiety for up to 12 Weeks: A "Proof-of-Concept" Open-Label Randomized Controlled Trial. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2017 Dec;37(6):722-728. doi: 10.1097/JCP.0000000000000786.

Drugs

Indications