The acute alcoholic inmate of a county or city prison presents special problems of management. The boisterousness, hallucinosis, nausea, tremors, and involuntary defecation and urination, which characterize the postalcoholic state, are not only distressing to the prisoner but also add to the general disturbance of the prison population and increase the burden of custodial care. To alleviate these problems, a simple regimen, effective in controlling withdrawal symptoms in the alcoholic prisoner, is desirable.
In recent years, a number of the so-called tranquilizing drugs have been employed in the treatment of the alcoholic patient. Some of the most effective of these drugs in treatment of patients in the postalcoholic state have been the phenothiazine derivatives.1 Recently a new phenothiazine compound, triflupromazine hydrochloride, has been made available for trial in controlling symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.
For about a year, triflupromazine, supplied as Vesprin, has been under study at the Denver city