Piracetam and chlormethiazole in acute alcohol withdrawal: a controlled clinical trial.
Dencker SJ, Wilhelmson G, Carlsson E, Bereen FJ.
J Int Med Res 1978;6(5):395-400
Abstract
Sixty in-patient alcoholics, presenting with an alcohol withdrawal syndrome after at least one week's drinking bout, were randomly allocated to fixed dose regimens of either
piracetam or chlormethiazole in a one-week double-blind trial. The patients were studied in respect to physical and biochemical parameters as well as symptom reduction and side-effects. The battery of rating scales demonstrated a good symptom reduction in both drug groups. On the whole a small tendency to more symptom items being reduced on
piracetam in comparison with chlormethiazole was found. But the tree items, sleep disturbances, decreased libido at the initial phase, and the staff's assessment showed statistically significant differences in favour of chlormethiazole. This study demonstrated that
piracetam was just as efficient as chlormethiazole in patients not requiring sedation.