Post-marketing and clinical safety experience with sodium oxybate for the treatment of alcohol withdrawal syndrome and maintenance of abstinence in alcohol-dependent subjects

Introduction: Sodium oxybate (SMO) has been approved in Italy and in Austria for the treatment of alcohol use disorder (AUD). This study describes the cumulative postmarketing and clinical safety experience with SMO in AUD.

Areas covered: Safety data for SMO at approved posology in AUD were identified from: (i) the clinical trial registries of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), (ii) reports from the biomedical literature and (iii) available pharmacovigilance safety information from the EMA.

Expert opinion: Safety data from 3 recent large randomized clinical studies (520 participants) and 43 earlier clinical studies (2547 participants) showed that SMO has a good safety profile in AUD patients. The safety profile was confirmed by pharmacovigilance data resulting from 299 013 patients exposed to SMO in Austria and Italy. Main adverse events were transitory dizziness and vertigo. Serious adverse events were rare. No death attributable to SMO has been reported. Risks of abuse or dependence are low in patients without psychiatric comorbidities or poly-drug use. The adverse events of SMO are transitory and do not require discontinuation of treatment. SMO abuse or dependence are extremely rare in patients without psychiatric comorbidities or poly-drug use.