Acamprosate.

IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD

Alcohol abuse and dependence are major causes of morbidity and mortality and come with a high societal cost. The illness is notoriously difficult to treat and relapse is a common occurrence. Acamprosate represents an effective addition to the treatment options available for alcohol dependence with a novel mechanism of action.

AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW

We review the published acamprosate literature focusing on major and recent comparative clinical trials and meta-analyses. We included all studies found in National Library of Medicine's PubMed database searching on Mesh term: acamprosate excluded animal studies excluding non-English publications, and focusing on efficacy/effectiveness studies. Additionally, we discuss background information on alcohol dependence and acamprosate's putative mechanism of action. Safety and tolerability data are also presented.

WHAT THE READER WILL GAIN

The reader will gain a better understanding of the role of acamprosate in the treatment of alcohol dependence and find a useful synopsis of the more recently published literature evaluating acamprosate's effectiveness based on what are not always identically defined primary study outcomes.

TAKE HOME MESSAGE

Acamprosate is safe and effective in the maintenance of abstinence from alcohol use/abuse and is most commonly used in combination with nonpharmacologic therapeutic modalities. The effect size ranged from 1.3 to 2 for most of the studies included in this review.