Eficacia del alprazolam en comprimidos sublinguales para el tratamiento de los trastornos de pánico en la fase aguda.

BACKGROUND: Panic disorder affects 2-5% of the general population. In Argentina, one million people would be affected with a 91% rate of psychiatric comorbidity. AIM: To compare efficacy parameters between sublingual (ALP-SL) and conventional (ALP-CT) tablets of alprazolam in the treatment of acute phase of panic disorder with and without agoraphobia. Subjects and METHODS: A comparative, multicenter (6 sites), double blind, randomized study was carried out. A total of 190 outpatients with (n = 117) and without (n = 73) agoraphobia were treated with ALP-SL or ALP-CT for 12 weeks. Outcome was assessed with the Clinical Global Impressions (CGI-S/CGI-I), Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HAM-A), Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX), Patient Global Impression (PGI), Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWBI), Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS) also by the number of panic attacks and extension and intensity of panic attacks and anticipatory anxiety. RESULTS: Both treatments resulted in statistically significant clinical improvement in all measures. ASEX presented no changes during the study. The average dose of alprazolam for 12 weeks was 1.36 ± 0.70 mg/day (1.39 ± 0.77 ALP-CT and 1.33 ± 0.64 ALP-SL). With ALP-SL, panic attacks were shorter (p < 0.05) with shorter extension (p = 0.16) and intensity of anticipatory anxiety (p = 0.14). The treatment was well tolerated, there being no differences between both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Alprazolam has been demonstrated to have efficacy, safety and good tolerability in the treatment of the acute phase of panic disorder, the sublingual tablets showing some comparative advantages.Panic disorder affects 2-5% of the general population. In Argentina, one million people would be affected with a 91% rate of psychiatric comorbidity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)