Individualized treatment for alcohol withdrawal. A randomized double-blind controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of an individualized treatment regimen on the intensity and duration of medication treatment for alcohol withdrawal. DESIGN A randomized double-blind, controlled trial. SETTING An inpatient detoxification unit in a Veterans Affairs medical center. PATIENTS One hundred one patients admitted for the treatment of alcohol withdrawal who could give informed consent and had no history of seizures or medication use that might alter the clinical course of withdrawal. INTERVENTION Patients were randomized to either a standard course of chlordiazepoxide four times daily with additional medication as needed (fixed-schedule therapy) or to a treatment regimen that provided chlordiazepoxide only in response to the development of the signs and symptoms of alcohol withdrawal (symptom-triggered therapy). The need for administration of "as-needed" medication was determined using a validated measure of the severity of alcohol withdrawal. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Duration of medication treatment and total chlordiazepoxide administered. RESULTS The median duration of treatment in the symptom-triggered group was 9 hours, compared with 68 hours in the fixed-schedule group (P < .001). The symptom-triggered group received 100 mg of chlordiazepoxide, and the fixed-schedule group received 425 mg (P < .001). There were no significant differences in the severity of withdrawal during treatment or in the incidence of seizures or delirium tremens. CONCLUSIONS Symptom-triggered therapy individualizes treatment, decreases both treatment duration and the amount of benzodiazepine used, and is as efficacious as standard fixed-schedule therapy for alcohol withdrawal.