Medical Uses
Zolpidem is used for short-term (usually about two to six weeks) treatment of insomnia. It has been studied for nightly use up to six months in a single-blind trial published in 1991, an open-label study lasting 180 days published in 1992 (with continued efficacy in patients who had kept taking it as of 180 days after the end of the trial), and in an open-label trial lasting 179 days published in 1993. Zolpidem has not proven effective in maintaining sleep and is more used for sleep initiation problems.
Zolpidem is one of the most common GABA-potentiating sleeping medications prescribed in the Netherlands, with a total of 582,660 prescriptions dispensed in 2008.
The United States Air Force uses zolpidem as one of the hypnotics approved as "no-go pills" to help aviators and special duty personnel sleep in support of mission readiness (the other hypnotics used are temazepam and zaleplon during war time). "Ground tests" are required prior to authorization issued to use the medication in an operational situation.
There is evidence that zolpidem can rouse patients from a persistent vegetative state.
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