Valproic acid management of acute alcohol withdrawal

The Annals of Pharmacotherapy
Elaine LumRichard S Slavik

Abstract

To review the clinical evidence to determine the efficacy and safety of valproic acid in the management of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS). MEDLINE (1966-February 2006), EMBASE (1980-February 2006), and PubMed (1966-February 2006) searches identified pertinent studies that were conducted in humans and published in English. Key words used for identification of articles included valproic acid, ethanol, alcohol, alcoholism, alcohol withdrawal delirium, alcohol withdrawal seizures, and substance withdrawal syndrome. References of identified articles were manually searched. All controlled clinical trials that evaluated the use of valproic acid for the management of AWS in humans were included. Comparisons were made among various regimens of valproic acid and traditional therapy with benzodiazepine or nonbenzodiazepine agents. Only 2 of 6 trials reported a statistically significant difference in favor of valproic acid on endpoints of AWS. However, these differences were of marginal clinical significance. The number of patients included in these studies did not allow for adequate evaluation of safety. The existing limited efficacy and safety data suggest that valproic acid should not replace conventional therapy or be used as adjunc...Continue Reading

Associated Clinical Trials

Aug 1, 2017·Audis Bethea, Pharm.D.

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Citations

Feb 23, 2011·Alcohol and Alcoholism : International Journal of the Medical Council on Alcoholism·Florian EyerThomas Zilker
Mar 3, 2009·Epilepsy & Behavior : E&B·John R Hughes
Apr 22, 2015·CNS Drugs·Christopher J HammondAlbert J Arias
Nov 27, 2014·The New England Journal of Medicine·Marc A Schuckit
Jan 9, 2014·Biomedical Papers of the Medical Faculty of the University Palacký, Olomouc, Czechoslovakia·Barbora MainerovaRomana Bradacova
May 24, 2008·American Journal of Health-system Pharmacy : AJHP : Official Journal of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists·Valerie Prince, Kelly R Turpin
Sep 24, 2009·CNS Spectrums·Debra R KahnJames A Bourgeois

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