Pharmacotherapies for Alcohol Problems

Alcohol withdrawal symptoms are rare in adolescents, reported by less than 10% of young people, but when they do occur, the treatment principles are extrapolated from adult experience and benzodiazepines should be used to manage the withdrawal.   

Pharmacotherapy for alcohol use disorders (naltrexone, acamprosate and disulfiram) in young people remains limited with few controlled trials having been conducted and only small samples included.  Larger studies, and especially randomised controlled trials, are still needed (Hammond Child Adolesc Psychiatric Clin N Am 25 (2016) 685–711).