Medication implant may improve opioid abstinence among adults with opioid dependence

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/tjnj-mim071416.php

Public Release: 19-Jul-2016
Medication implant may improve opioid abstinence among adults with opioid dependence
The JAMA Network Journals

In a study appearing in the July 19 issue of JAMA, Richard N. Rosenthal, M.D., of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, and colleagues examined if 6-month subdermal buprenorphine implants maintained low to no illicit opioid use relative to daily sublingual (beneath the tongue) buprenorphine among currently stable opioid-dependent patients receiving buprenorphine maintenance treatment.

Opioid dependence is a growing public health concern in the United States, associated with spread of human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C and fatal over dose when left untreated. The effectiveness of treatment with the medication buprenorphine is limited by suboptimal adherence.

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Over 6 months, 72 of 84 (86 percent) receiving buprenorphine implants and 64 of 89 (72 percent) receiving sublingual buprenorphine maintained opioid abstinence. Non-implant-related and implant-related adverse events occurred in 48 percent and 23 percent of the buprenorphine implant group and in 53 percent and 13.5 percent of participants in the sublingual buprenorphine group, respectively.

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Editor's Note: This study was funded by Braeburn Pharmaceuticals. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, etc.

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tags: drug use, drug abuse