Safety and Efficacy of Lofexidine for Medically Managed Opioid Withdrawal: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

To investigate the safety and efficacy of lofexidine for treating opioid withdrawal syndrome (OWS) and facilitating completion of opioid withdrawal.

A multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted at 18 US centers from June 2013 to December 2014. Participants (n = 603) aged ≥18 years, dependent on short-acting opioids, and seeking withdrawal treatment, randomized 3:3:2 to receive lofexidine 2.88 mg/d (n = 222), lofexidine 2.16 mg/d (n = 230), or placebo (n = 151) for 7 days. Primary outcome was the Short Opiate Withdrawal Scale of Gossop (SOWS-Gossop) scores rating withdrawal symptoms over days 1 to 7.

Participants were of mean age, 35 years; 71% male. Pairwise differences in overall SOWS-Gossop log-transformed least squares means were statistically significant for lofexidine 2.16 mg (difference, -0.21; 95% CI, -0.37 to -0.04; P = 0.02) and 2.88 mg (-0.26; 95% CI, -0.44 to -0.09; P = 0.003) compared with placebo. Fewer than half of participants in both groups completed the study. Completion rates for lofexidine 2.16 mg (41.5%; odds ratio [OR], 1.85; P = 0.007) and 2.88 mg (39.6%; OR, 1.71; P = 0.02) were significantly better compared with placebo (27.8%). Overall adverse event (AE) rates were similar across groups. Common AEs for lofexidine included orthostatic hypotension, hypotension, and bradycardia, but resulted in few study discontinuations.

Lofexidine 2.16 mg and 2.88 mg significantly reduced symptoms of OWS versus placebo, and increased absolute rates of completing the 7-day study by 14% and 12%, respectively (a relative increase of 85% and 71%). Data suggest that lofexidine is a generally safe and effective nonopioid treatment for opioid withdrawal. Lofexidine could serve as a withdrawal treatment option when a nonopioid agent is preferred or required, when agonist-assisted withdrawal is unavailable, when agonist discontinuation caused OWS, and during induction into maintenance treatment with opioid agonists or antagonists.

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01863186.