OR11-5 * A MULTI-CENTRIC STUDY OF NMDA ANTAGONIST MEMANTINE EFFECT COMPARED TO ALPHA 2 AGONISTS IN TREATMENT OF OPIOID DEPENDANT PATIENTS

Abstract

Introduction. Clinical practice and evidence from previous studies showed that memantine may have an effect in alleviating opiate withdrawal symptoms. Methods. Objective withdrawal symptoms will be measured daily in the first week by the clinical opiate withdrawal scale (COWS) - Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale (COWS) Flow-sheet for clinician measuring objective symptoms of opiate withdrawal over a week during detoxification. Results. We measure the withdrawal symptoms by opiate withdrawal scale every day for 5 days, we found that memantine is statistically significant better than clonidine in each day of the first 5 days in. Also, patients satisfaction with memantine is better than with clonidine in statistical significant manner. Conclusions. (1) Memantine is a well-tolerated drug during the withdrawal period. (2) Compared to clonidine, opiate withdrawal symptoms are not only less in severity with Memantine, but also shorter in duration. (3) Memantine is more effective than clonidine in alleviating the opiate withdrawal symptoms.