Treatment of the Acute Alcohol Withdrawal State: A Comparison of Four Drugs

Abstract

A double-blind study of 537 patients evaluated the relative efficacy of four drugs—chlordiazepoxide, chlorpromazine, hydroxyzine, and thiamine—commonly used in treating alcohol withdrawal symptoms, specifically to prevent delirium tremens and convulsions. Of the 55 patients who developed these symptoms, two percent were in the chlordiazepoxide group; the incidence ranged from ten to 16 percent in the other treatment groups. The authors conclude that chlordiazepoxide appears to be the drug of choice among those tested.