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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Opioid Antagonists for Alcohol Dependence

About this resource:

Systematic Review

Source: The Cochrane Collaborative

Last Reviewed: December 2010

Workgroups: Substance Use Workgroup

In this Cochrane systematic review, the Cochrane Collaborative found that the opioid antagonist naltrexone can help people with alcohol dependence drink less alcohol and drink less often. While naltrexone does not cause serious side effects, it can cause problems like nausea, stomach pain, loss of appetite, and sleepiness. Researchers found that there’s not enough evidence to determine if injectable naltrexone or the opioid antagonist nalmefene is effective in treating alcohol dependence.

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Objectives related to this resource (1)

Reduce the proportion of people who had alcohol use disorder in the past year — SU‑13
Little or no detectable change

Suggested Citation

1.

Rösner, S., Hackl‐Herrwerth, A., Leucht, S., Vecchi, S., Srisurapanont, M. & Soyka, M. (2010). Opioid antagonists for alcohol dependence. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2010 (12). DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD001867.pub3.