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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 13, 2026

Chronic Intermittent Ethanol Vapor Exposure Paired with Two-Bottle Choice to Model Alcohol Use Disorder

Chronic Intermittent Ethanol Vapor Exposure Paired with Two-Bottle Choice to Model Alcohol Use Disorder

Published on: June 23, 2023

Baclofen for alcohol withdrawal.

Jia Liu¹, Lu-Ning Wang

¹Department of Geriatric Neurology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China. Jason_liu1984@yahoo.cn.

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

|March 2, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Baclofen may help reduce symptoms of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS), but current evidence is insufficient. More randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm the efficacy and safety of baclofen for AWS treatment.

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Area of Science:

Pharmacology
Clinical Medicine
Addiction Psychiatry

Background:

Severe alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) presents significant clinical challenges.
Baclofen offers potential benefits including rapid symptom reduction and cost-effectiveness.
Patient-reported effects with baclofen include rare euphoria and reduced craving.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of baclofen in managing patients with alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS).

Main Methods:

Comprehensive literature search of multiple databases (CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL) and ongoing trial registers.
Inclusion of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing baclofen against placebo or other treatments for AWS.
Independent assessment of studies and data collection on efficacy and adverse effects.

Main Results:

Two RCTs with 81 participants were included.
One study indicated baclofen and diazepam similarly reduced the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment of Alcohol Scale Revised (CIWA-Ar) scores.
Another study found no significant difference in CIWA-Ar scores between baclofen and placebo, but baclofen reduced benzodiazepine dependence.

Conclusions:

Current evidence supporting baclofen for AWS is limited.
Further high-quality randomized controlled trials are necessary to establish baclofen's efficacy and safety profile.
Baclofen's role in AWS management requires more robust clinical validation.