Effectiveness of Gabapentin in Reducing Cravings and Withdrawal in Alcohol Use Disorder: A Meta-Analytic Review.

OBJECTIVE: The current meta-analysis synthesizes previous findings on the effect of gabapentin on alcohol withdrawal and craving. DATA SOURCES: Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology, a search for relevant English-language literature published between January 1999 and February 2019 was conducted using PubMed and Google Scholar with the keywords alcohol use disorder, alcohol dependence, alcohol withdrawals, alcohol craving, "gabapentin in alcohol use, consumption," and "gabapentin in alcohol withdrawals." STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: Studies were included wherein gabapentin was used as an adjunctive or primary treatment of alcohol dependence/withdrawal. Studies included participants diagnosed with alcohol use disorder using DSM-IV, DSM-IV-TR, DSM-5, or the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). The search, as well as data extraction, was carried out by 3 blinded authors to preserve precision, using a template in Microsoft Excel to extract the needed data. Following the review of the initial 65 returns, 2 authors independently judged each trial by applying the inclusionary and exclusionary criteria, and any remaining disagreements were resolved by involving a third independent author. A total of 10 studies met the inclusion criteria and were selected for analysis. Subjects in these 10 studies were pooled using standard techniques of meta-analysis. DATA SYNTHESIS: Three sets of meta-analyses examined outcomes from (1) single-group pretest-posttest changes, (2) posttest differences between independent groups, and (3) differences in pretest-posttest change scores between independent groups. Statistically significant effect sizes were found for craving (P < .01) and withdrawal (P < .01, P < .001) in the meta-analysis of single-group pretest-posttest outcome changes and were associated with a high level of heterogeneity. In contrast, the meta-analyses of posttest differences between independent groups-that of differences in pretest-posttest change scores between independent groups-did not yield significant effect sizes. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis of pooled data provides evidence that the use of gabapentin to manage alcohol withdrawal symptomatology and related cravings is at least moderately effective. However, given the limited number of available well-designed studies, these findings require further support through more rigorously designed studies.

Use of Gabapentin in the Treatment of Substance Use and Psychiatric Disorders: A Systematic Review.

Objective: Gabapentin (GBP) is an anticonvulsant medication that is also used to treat restless legs syndrome (RLS) and posttherapeutic neuralgia. GBP is commonly prescribed off-label for psychiatric disorders despite the lack of strong evidence. However, there is growing evidence that GBP may be effective and clinically beneficial in both psychiatric disorders and substance use disorders. This review aimed to perform a systematic analysis of peer-reviewed published literature on the efficacy of GBP in the treatment of psychiatric disorders and substance use disorders. Methods: This review was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The PubMed and Ovid MEDLINE literature databases were screened and filtered by using specific search terms and inclusion/exclusion criteria. The full texts of selected studies were subsequently retrieved and reviewed. The search terms generated 2,604 results from the databases. After excluding all duplicates, 1,088 citations were left. Thereafter, we applied inclusion and exclusion criteria; a total of 54 papers were retained for detailed review. Results: This literature review concludes that GBP appears to be effective in the treatment of various forms of anxiety disorders. It shows some effectiveness in bipolar disorder as an adjunctive therapeutic agent, while the evidence for monotherapy is inconclusive. In substance use disorders, GBP is effective for acute alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) with mild to moderate severity; it reduces cravings, improves the rate of abstinence, and delays return to heavy drinking. GBP may have some therapeutic potential in the treatment of opioid addiction and cannabis dependence, but there is limited evidence to support its use. No significant benefit of GBP has been conclusively observed in the treatment of OCD, PTSD, depression, or cocaine and amphetamine abuse. Conclusion: GBP appears to be effective in some forms of anxiety disorders such as preoperative anxiety, anxiety in breast cancer survivors, and social phobia. GBP has shown to be safe and effective in the treatment of alcohol dependence. However, the literature suggests that GBP is effective as an adjunctive medication rather than a monotherapy. More clinical trials with larger patient populations are needed to support gabapentin's off-label use in psychiatric disorders and substance use disorders. It is worth noting that numerous clinical studies that are discussed in this review are open-label trials, which are inherently less rigorously analyzed. Therefore, more extensive investigations are required to examine not only the efficacy of GBP, but also its safety and tolerance.