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Managing opioid withdrawal precipitated by buprenorphine with buprenorphine
Author(s) -
Oakley Bridget,
Wilson Hester,
Hayes Victoria,
Lintzeris Nicholas
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
drug and alcohol review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.018
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1465-3362
pISSN - 0959-5236
DOI - 10.1111/dar.13228
Subject(s) - buprenorphine , methadone , medicine , opioid , anesthesia , opioid use disorder , partial agonist , agonist , pharmacology , receptor
Abstract Buprenorphine is a partial opioid agonist commonly used to treat opioid dependence. The pharmacology of buprenorphine increases the risk of a precipitated opioid withdrawal when commencing patients on buprenorphine treatment, particularly when transferring from long acting opioids (e.g. methadone). There is little documented experience regarding the management of precipitated withdrawal. In our case, a patient developed a significant precipitated opioid withdrawal following buprenorphine administration, and was able to be successfully treated in hospital with further buprenorphine. This demonstrates that rapid increases in buprenorphine dose can be used as an effective treatment for buprenorphine‐induced precipitated opioid withdrawal. The use of buprenorphine to manage withdrawal then allows the individual to continue on this highly effective treatment.