Per a court order, HHS is required to restore this website to its version as of 12:00 AM on January 29, 2025. Information on this page may be modified and/or removed in the future subject to the terms of the court’s order and implemented consistent with applicable law. Any information on this page promoting gender ideology is extremely inaccurate and disconnected from truth. The Trump Administration rejects gender ideology due to the harms and divisiveness it causes. This page does not reflect reality and therefore the Administration and this Department reject it.

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

Psychotropic Analgesic Nitrous Oxide for Alcoholic Withdrawal States

About this resource:

Systematic Review

Source: The Cochrane Collaborative

Last Reviewed: April 2007

Workgroups: Substance Use Workgroup

In this Cochrane systematic review, the Cochrane Collaborative found that psychotropic analgesic nitrous oxide (PAN) is as effective as sedatives for managing mild or moderate alcohol withdrawal. However, researchers noted that the review doesn’t offer strong evidence about the benefits or harms of using PAN instead of sedatives, so more research is needed. They also noted that the studies included in the review were conducted in inpatient settings but that PAN is also used in outpatient settings.

Read more about this resource

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.

Gillman, M.A., Lichtigfeld, F. & Young, T. (2007). Psychotropic analgesic nitrous oxide for alcoholic withdrawal states. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2007 (2). DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD005190.pub2.