EFFECTS OF TETRABAMATE AND OF DIAZEPAM ON SLEEP POLYGRAPHY DURING SUBACUTE WITHDRAWAL IN ALCOHOL-DEPENDENT PATIENTS

We have studied the effects of two anxiolytic drugs frequently prescribed in alcohol withdrawal, diazepam and tetrabamate, on sleep polygraphy of alcohol-dependent patients hospitalized for alcohol detoxification. Twenty-three inpatients (16 M and 7F) fulfilling the DSM 3R alcohol-dependence criteria were included. Twelve patients were treated with tetrabamate and the other 11 with diazepam. Sleep polygraphy was carried out on average 15 days after alcohol withdrawal. The sleep of tetrabamate-treated patients differs from that of diazepam-treated patients in having a much longer duration of stage 4, at the expense mainly of stage 2. The two groups of patients had a greater total sleep time and duration of delta sleep than comparable untreated patients. These results suggest that the delta sleep deficit of abstinent alcoholics is paradoxically corrected by anxiolytic treatment. Tetrabamate seems to induce the production of delta waves during the sleep of abstinent alcoholics.