Table 2.

Summary of reported use of flumazenil in the treatment of long term withdrawal symptoms and management of acute withdrawal

Author	Design	Treatment	Results
Lader & Morton 1992 [45]	Pilot study n = 11	1–2 mg bolus doses over 3 h	Flumazenil successful in alleviating long term symptoms of benzodiazepine withdrawal
Saxon et al 1997 [46]	Double-blind pilot n = 10	1.0 mg total in five doses over 1 h × 2	Flumazenil successful in alleviating long term symptoms of benzodiazepine withdrawal
Gerra et al 2002 [47]	RCT flumazenil vs. oxazepam taper n = 50	1 mg 4 h−1 infusion twice daily for 8 days with oxazepam taper	Flumazenil group had significantly reduced withdrawal symptoms, improved programme completion and reduced relapse rates
Hood et al. 2009 [50]	Case series/open trial n = 16	2 mg 24 h–1 continuous i.v. infusion with oxazepam. tapering for 4 days	Patients had reduced withdrawal symptoms; successfully completed withdrawal. I.v. infusion problematic
Quaglio et al 2012 [48]	Case series n = 29	1.35 mg day−1 continuous i.v. infusion with clonazepam for 7 days	All patients completed the withdrawal programme with 51% abstinent at 6 months
Hulse et al 2012 [51]	Case series n = 23	4 mg 24 h–1 continuous s.c. infusion with oxazepam taper for 4 days	Subjective withdrawal symptoms well managed. High patient acceptance. Improvement on measures of psychological distress over withdrawal period

Note: Table includes peer reviewed published data – Lugoboni et al. (2011) [49] not included.