Lofexidine for Inpatient Opiate Detox in Singapore
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2015-07-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
In Singapore, opiate substitution medication e.g. methadone is only licensed for use with
specific population. The standard treatment is one week of detoxification assisted with
diazepam and symptomatic treatment followed by one week of rehabilitation. However, diazepam
is highly addictive and widely abused among heroin users and pharmacologically, does not
reduce the physical and psychological craving for opioids which can trigger relapse. Many
opiate patients undergoing inpatient detoxification leave prematurely (i.e. PID: patient
initiated discharge) because of the severity of unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. The purpose
of the study is to establish an alternative medication to reduce opiate withdrawal symptoms
for use in Singapore by evaluating the clinical efficacy of Lofexidine versus Diazepam in the
management of the opiate withdrawal syndrome during inpatient detoxification.