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Continued alcohol intake in patients with liver cirrhosis is associated with morbidity and mortality, and disqualifies patients from transplantation. New treatments that reduce alcohol craving have not been studied extensively in people with cirrhosis; some of these drugs are metabolized in the liver, and at least one, naltrexone, potentially is hepatotoxic. However, the muscle-relaxant baclofen reduced alcohol craving in preliminary studies and has no known adverse hepatic effects.
Investigators randomized 84 alcohol-dependent patients with cirrhosis to receive oral baclofen (30 mg daily) or placebo for 12 weeks after alcohol detoxification. Medications were dispensed to and administered by family members, who also monitored adherence, alco…