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Gabapentin vs Chlordiazepoxide for Ambulatory Alcohol Withdrawal

V

VA Salt Lake City Health Care System

Status and phase

Completed
Phase 4

Conditions

Alcohol Withdrawal

Treatments

Drug: Gabapentin
Drug: Chlordiazepoxide

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other U.S. Federal agency

Identifiers

NCT01573052
UU40574

Details and patient eligibility

About

A randomized, double-blind controlled trial comparing treatment outcomes between chlordiazepoxide, or gabapentin to treat alcohol withdrawal syndrome in alcohol dependent veteran subjects. The objective of this trial is to compare the safety and effectiveness of these two medications. Intervention is a fixed dose taper of chlordiazepoxide, or gabapentin over 6 days. Subjects will be evaluated for 7-10 days to monitor alcohol abstinence, withdrawal severity scores, adverse events including ataxia, sedation, cognitive function and alcohol craving.

Full description

Chlordiazepoxide 25 mg and matching placebo capsules or gabapentin 300 mg and matching placebo capsules were were used. The chlordiazepoxide/placebo and gabapentin/placebo capsules were not identical in appearance. Study medications were packaged into a 7-day medication organizer. The dosing for each subject was either gabapentin 1200mg or chlordiazepoxide 100 mg orally days 1-3, gabapentin 900 mg or chlordiazepoxide 75 mg day 4, gabapentin 600 mg or chlordiazepoxide 50 mg day 5, and gabapentin 300 mg or chlordiazepoxide 25 mg day 6.

Adherence was assessed by pill counts and serum samples were obtained for study drug analysis. Serum samples were batched and sent to a contract laboratory so that study clinicians were blinded to the results until after the trial was completed. Presence of the assigned study medication in the blood served as a surrogate adherence marker.

Subjects also received prescriptions for daily oral therapeutic multiple vitamin tablets, folic acid 1 mg, and thiamine 100 mg.

A psychiatric history and physical examination, breath alcohol concentration, vital signs, CIWA-Ar (alcohol withdrawal scale), and blood chemistry including transaminases and complete blood cell count were obtained for baseline for all participants. Subjects were seen on weekdays for clinic follow-up appointments. Assessments performed at each study visit included CIWA-Ar, ESS (Epworth Sleepiness Scale), PACS (Penn Alcohol Craving Scale), and a brief examination to document mental status and assess coordination, which included assessment of stance, tandem gait, Romberg test, pronator drift, toe and heel walk, rapid-alternating-movements, and point-to-point movements. Breath alcohol concentration (BAC) was also measured (AlcoSensor, Intoximeters, Inc.) at each visit.

Enrollment

26 patients

Sex

All

Ages

18 to 80 years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

  • Alcohol dependent at risk for withdrawal symptoms

Exclusion criteria

  • Benzodiazepine dependent

Trial design

Primary purpose

Treatment

Allocation

Randomized

Interventional model

Parallel Assignment

Masking

Quadruple Blind

26 participants in 2 patient groups

Chlordiazepoxide
Active Comparator group
Description:
Chlordiazepoxide 25mg capsule or matching placebo capsule
Treatment:
Drug: Chlordiazepoxide
Gabapentin
Experimental group
Description:
Gabapentin 300mg capsule or matching placebo capsule
Treatment:
Drug: Gabapentin

Trial contacts and locations

1

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Data sourced from clinicaltrials.gov

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