NCT00249366

Treatment of Alcohol Withdrawal in Hospital Patients

Acute Drug Withdrawal in a General Medical Setting

• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 4
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 183 (actual)
• Sponsor: Virginia Commonwealth University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 21 Years – 75 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to test how tolerable and effective lorazepam is when used to treat alcohol withdrawal in hospital patients at risk for alcohol withdrawal.

Detailed description

Studies show that symptom-triggered dosing is best for treatment of alcohol withdrawal in patients on chemical dependence units without other illness. On general medical hospital wards, withdrawal may be affected by comorbid medical illness. A clinical trial was undertaken to determine whether there is a difference between symptom-triggered (ST) and fixed-schedule (FS) dosing of lorazepam in patients hospitalized on general medical wards at a University medical center. Subjects were assessed by their nurses with the Revised Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol (CIWA-Ar) scale. Subjects in the ST arm received lorazepam doses based on CIWA-Ar score. Subjects in the FS arm received scheduled lorazepam with tapering over 4 days.

Conditions

• Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DRUG	Lorazepam (drug)	Lorazepam administered orally or IV for treatment of alcohol withdrawal in hospitalized patients
DRUG	Lorazepam	Lorazepam administered orally or IV for treatment of alcohol withdrawal in hospitalized patients

Timeline

• Start date: 2001-04-01
• Primary completion: 2003-05-01
• Completion: 2003-05-01
• First posted: 2005-11-07
• Last updated: 2016-04-11

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States