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Updated: May 10, 2026

Chronic Intermittent Ethanol Vapor Exposure Paired with Two-Bottle Choice to Model Alcohol Use Disorder
05:12

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Published on: June 23, 2023

Magnesium for alcohol withdrawal.

Michael Sarai1, Aaron M Tejani, Alice Hill Wah Chan

  • 1Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
|June 7, 2013
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Magnesium supplementation shows no proven benefit for alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) due to limited evidence and high risk of bias in studies. More research is needed to determine its effectiveness and safety in treating or preventing AWS.

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Area of Science:

  • Clinical Medicine
  • Pharmacology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Magnesium is sometimes administered to patients experiencing or at risk of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS).
  • The efficacy of magnesium for AWS is not well-established, partly due to debated links between low magnesium levels and AWS.
  • Limited evidence necessitates a thorough review of existing research.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To systematically evaluate the effects of magnesium in preventing or treating acute alcohol withdrawal syndrome in hospitalized adults.
  • To synthesize findings from randomized and quasi-randomized controlled trials.

Main Methods:

  • Searched multiple databases (Cochrane, PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science) and the internet for relevant trials up to August 2012.
  • Included randomized or quasi-randomized trials involving hospitalized adults with or at risk for acute alcohol withdrawal.
  • Extracted data independently, assessed risk of bias, and planned meta-analysis for dichotomous (Risk Ratio) and continuous (Standardized Mean Difference) outcomes.

Main Results:

  • Four trials with 317 participants met inclusion criteria; three used oral magnesium, one used parenteral magnesium.
  • All trials exhibited a high risk of bias in at least one domain, with significant clinical and methodological heterogeneity.
  • No trial measured all primary outcomes; one assessed seizure symptoms and CIWA scores. Meta-analysis of handgrip strength showed no significant improvement with magnesium (SMD 0.04; 95% CI -0.22 to 0.30).
  • No clinically significant adverse events were reported.

Conclusions:

  • There is insufficient evidence to conclude whether magnesium is beneficial or harmful for treating or preventing alcohol withdrawal syndrome.
  • Further high-quality research is required to clarify the role of magnesium in AWS management.