Authors Manit Srisurapanont and Ngamwong Jarusuraisin of Thailand's Chiang Mai University primarily looked at studies where naltrexone was given alongside psychosocial treatment, such as counseling or self-help groups. The authors said that naltrexone reduces the risk of relapse by about 36 percent, and those using the drug were 18 percent less likely to leave treatment without authorization.

Sold as ReVia, naltrexone has been available on the U.S. market for more than a decade, but has not been aggressively marketed or widely used. Some observers say this could change, however, as the maker of another anti-addiction drug, acamprosate (Campral), has begun promoting the drug more heavily.

The review appears in the most recent issue of The Cochrane Library, published by The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research.

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