ArticleCureus2026
A Retrospective Evaluation of Phenobarbital and Benzodiazepine Monotherapy and Combined Therapy in the Treatment of Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome in a Canadian Emergency Department.
Article in Cureus, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Purpose The first-line treatment for alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) in the emergency department (ED) is benzodiazepines. Phenobarbital is used as an alternative first-line treatment for AWS in admitted patients. This retrospective cohort study assessed the safety and efficacy of phenobarbital and benzodiazepines as first-line treatments of AWS in a Canadian ED. Methods A retrospective chart review was performed of patients seen at a Canadian tertiary care ED from January 2022 until December 2023. Patients were included if they were treated in the ED for AWS with phenobarbital or benzodiazepines, either as monotherapy or as combined therapy. The primary outcome was the time from medication administration to disposition (discharge or admission). Secondary outcomes included ED length of stay, time to medication administration, admission rates, 48-hour ED return visits, and adverse events. Statistical comparisons were performed using ANOVA and chi-square testing with post hoc analyses. Results A total of 342 patient encounters were included. The majority of patients (n = 203) were treated with benzodiazepine monotherapy, and 97 patients were treated with phenobarbital monotherapy. There was no significant difference in the primary outcome between the phenobarbital and benzodiazepine monotherapy groups. Combined use of phenobarbital and benzodiazepines was associated with a longer time to disposition, potentially reflecting patients with more severe symptoms or treatment-resistant cases. Overall, adverse events occurred in 11% of patients, with no significant difference between phenobarbital and benzodiazepine monotherapy groups. Conclusion Patients treated with phenobarbital monotherapy for AWS in the ED had a similar time from medication administration to ED disposition when compared to patients treated with benzodiazepine monotherapy. Phenobarbital monotherapy may be an appropriate first-line therapy for AWS in the ED; however, prospective studies are required.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.