ReviewCNS drugs2015
Anticonvulsants for the treatment of alcohol withdrawal syndrome and alcohol use disorders.
Review in CNS drugs, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 73 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evidence-based consensus guidelines for the pharmacological management of substance dependence: Recommendations from the British Association for Psychopharmacology.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Guideline
- Thiazol-4-yl-Methylthio-Quinazolin-4(3H)-ones as Anticonvulsant Compounds: Chemical Design, Computational Studies, and Biological Evaluation.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Pharmacotherapy for Alcohol Craving Reduction: Efficacy of Short-Term Treatments in Alcohol Use Disorder.Medicines (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Zonisamide Ameliorated the Apoptosis and Inflammation in Cerebellar Tissue of Induced Alcohol Addiction Animal Model.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- NLRP3 deficiency decreases alcohol intake controlling anxiety-like behavior via modification of glutamatergic transmission in corticostriatal circuits.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2022Article
- Coping drinking motives, neural functional coupling during emotion processing, and alcohol use in young adults with bipolar disorder.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2022Article
- Management of Post-Acute Alcohol Withdrawal: A Mixed-Studies Scoping Review.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2022Article
- The Use of Anticonvulsant Adjuncts to Treat Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome in Older Adults.Canadian geriatrics journal : CGJ · 2022Article
- Outcomes After Implementation of a Benzodiazepine-Sparing Alcohol Withdrawal Order Set in an Integrated Health Care System.JAMA network open · 2022Article
- Pharmacists leadership in a medication shortage response: Illustrative examples from a health system response to the COVID-19 crisis.Journal of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy : JACCP · 2021Article
- DNA damage and oxidative stress induced by seizures are decreased by anticonvulsant and neuroprotective effects of lobeline, a candidate to treat alcoholism.Metabolic brain disease · 2018Article
- Gabapentin for the treatment of alcohol use disorder.Expert opinion on investigational drugs · 2018Review
- The Role of Pharmacotherapy in the Treatment of Adolescent Substance Use Disorders.Child and adolescent psychiatric clinics of North America · 2016Review
- A case of gait disturbance caused by low-dose gabapentin.Therapeutics and clinical risk management · 2016Article
- Prescription Sedative Misuse and Abuse.The Yale journal of biology and medicine · 2015Review
- Management of Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome in Patients with Alcoholic Liver Disease.Journal of clinical and experimental hepatologyReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Alcoholic patients suffer from harmful allostatic neuroplastic changes in the brain causing an acute withdrawal syndrome upon cessation of drinking followed by a protracted abstinence syndrome and an increased risk of relapse to heavy drinking. Benzodiazepines have long been the treatment of choice for detoxifying patients and managing alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS). Non-benzodiazepine anticonvulsants (NBACs) are increasingly being used both for alcohol withdrawal management and for ongoing outpatient treatment of alcohol dependence, with the goal of either abstinence or harm reduction. This expert narrative review summarizes the scientific basis and clinical evidence supporting the use of NBACs in treating AWS and for reducing harmful drinking patterns. There is less evidence in support of NBAC therapy for AWS, with few placebo-controlled trials. Carbamazepine and gabapentin appear to be the most promising adjunctive treatments for AWS, and they may be useful as monotherapy in select cases, especially in outpatient settings and for the treatment of mild-to-moderate low-risk patients with the AWS. The body of evidence supporting the use of the NBACs for reducing harmful drinking in the outpatient setting is stronger. Topiramate appears to have a robust effect on reducing harmful drinking in alcoholics. Gabapentin is a potentially efficacious treatment for reducing the risk of relapse to harmful drinking patterns in outpatient management of alcoholism. Gabapentin's ease of use, rapid titration, good tolerability, and efficacy in both the withdrawal and chronic phases of treatment make it particularly appealing. In summary, several NBACs appear to be beneficial in treating AWS and alcohol use disorders.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.