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THE EFFICACY OF CLONIDINE IN THE PHARMACOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT OF ALCOHOL WITHDRAWAL SYNDROME: PRELIMINARY RESULTS

VIRGIL RADU ENĂTESCU 1#, RALUKA KALINOVIC 2#, CRISTINA ADRIANA DEHELEAN 3, CĂTĂLINA GIURGI-ONCU 1, LAVINIA MARIA HOGEA 1, PETRU IFTENI 4, GABRIELA VLAD 2, OANA NEDA-STEPAN 2, MIHAELA SIMU 1, OVIDIU HOREA BEDREAG 5, ILEANA MARINESCU 6, DELIA HUTANU 7, ILEANA ENĂTESCU 8*, LAURA ALEXANDRA NUSSBAUM 1

1.The 8th Department, Faculty of Medicine, “Victor Babeș” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timișoara, Romania
2.“Pius Brinzeu” Emergency County Hospital – Psychiatric Clinic, Timișoara, Romania
3.The 2nd Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, “Victor Babeș” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timișoara, Romania
4.Transilvania University, Brașov, Romania
5.The 10th Department, Faculty of Medicine, “Victor Babeș” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timișoara, Romania
6.University of Medicine and Pharmacy Craiova, Romania
7.Biology Department, West University Timișoara, Romania
8.The 12th Department, Faculty of Medicine, “Victor Babeș” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timișoara, Romania

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Alcohol dependence and harmful use represent the most prevalent addictive disorder worldwide. Alcohol withdrawal syndrome is considered a life-threatening condition by inducing severe physiological imbalances. Pharmacological management of alcohol withdrawal syndrome is very complex and challenging, often involving a long duration in getting remission. Our ongoing study aimed to analyse the efficacy of clonidine (an alpha-2-agonist) for improving alcohol withdrawal syndrome quantified by the mean change of The Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment of Alcohol Scale, Revised (CIWA-Ar) scores. Of 30 patients with alcohol withdrawal syndrome recruited so far, 11 (36.7%) benefited from clonidine treatment. Blood pressure and other physiological signs were periodically monitored. Although at the beginning of the treatment there were no differences between the mean CIWA-Ar scores (t = 0.352, p = 0.599), after 5 days the difference became significant in favour of those treated with clonidine (t = 3.147, p = 0.004). Clonidine may provide additional benefit in managing alcohol withdrawal by offering a different mechanism of action for targeting withdrawal symptoms.