Gabapentin for Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome

Summary

The current "gold-standard" for the management of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) is symptom-triggered administration of benzodiazepines. This method of treatment has several drawbacks that have been described in the literature. Thus benzodiazepine sparing agents have been evaluated for use in AWS. One of these agents that has not only shown benefit for AWS but also benefits on complete abstinence, reducing a return to heavy drinking, and cravings is gabapentin. In clinical practice at Mayo Clinic gabapentin is used for this purpose. Due to the limited reports of the safety and efficacy of a protocol involving gabapentin for AWS, a study to compare gabapentin to symptom-triggered lorazepam will be completed.

Timeline

Start

2017-02-01

Primary completion

2021-03-01

Completion

2021-03-01

Publications

• Background Furieri FA, Nakamura-Palacios EM. Gabapentin reduces alcohol consumption and craving: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. J Clin Psychiatry. 2007 Nov;68(11):1691-700. doi: 10.4088/jcp.v68n1108.
• Background Leung JG, Hall-Flavin D, Nelson S, Schmidt KA, Schak KM. The role of gabapentin in the management of alcohol withdrawal and dependence. Ann Pharmacother. 2015 Aug;49(8):897-906. doi: 10.1177/1060028015585849. Epub 2015 May 12.
• Background Maldonado JR, Sher Y, Das S, Hills-Evans K, Frenklach A, Lolak S, Talley R, Neri E. Prospective Validation Study of the Prediction of Alcohol Withdrawal Severity Scale (PAWSS) in Medically Ill Inpatients: A New Scale for the Prediction of Complicated Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome. Alcohol Alcohol. 2015 Sep;50(5):509-18. doi: 10.1093/alcalc/agv043. Epub 2015 May 21.
• DeFoster RE, Morgan RJ 3rd, Leung JG, Schenzel H, Vijapura P, Kashiwagi DT, Fischer KM, Philbrick KL, Kung S. Use of Gabapentin for Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome in the Hospital Setting: A Randomized Open-Label Controlled Trial. Subst Use Misuse. 2023;58(13):1643-1650. doi: 10.1080/10826084.2023.2236223. Epub 2023 Jul 19.

Drugs

Indications