Chlormethiazole and trifluoperazine in alcohol withdrawal.

A double-blind trial was conducted on 100 alcoholic inpatients to compare chlormethiazole and trifluoperazine in the alcohol abstinence syndrome. The former drug was accompanied by placebo anticonvulsant and the latter by phenytoin. The drugs had similar rapid effects on the overall clinical conditions of the patients. Following alcohol withdrawal anxiety, depression, headache, subjective epigastric quivering, nausea, and anorexia were significantly more common in patients receiving chlormethiazole, but the sleep-inducing property of this drug makes it the preferable treatment for inpatients (although caution is needed in the presence of bronchial infection).