Enlarged double-blind randomised trial of benzodiazepines against psychotropic analgesic nitrous oxide for alcohol withdrawal.
We report a randomised double-blind controlled study with an enlarged cohort of participants (N = 51) using psychotropic analgesic nitrous oxide (PAN) versus benzodiazepines (BZs) for treating acute alcoholic withdrawal states. An additional 28 participants having received a BZ the night previous to the study were pooled with the previously analysed 23 (with no additional BZ). These pooled results showed that PAN is superior to a BZ regimen at P = .05 level, despite additional BZs. Our work provides further support for previous findings that show that PAN is a safe, rapid, and effective therapy for acute mild to moderately severe withdrawal states.