Enhancing Patient Choice: Using Self-administered Intranasal Naloxone for Novel Rapid Buprenorphine Initiation
Randall, Adam ; Hull, Ilana ; Martin, Stephen A
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Abstract
Buprenorphine-naloxone (BUP-NX) is a lifesaving treatment for opioid use disorder. The increasing use of illicitly manufactured fentanyl, however, has made initiating BUP-NX more likely to precipitate withdrawal-an experience that deters treatment and causes return to use. If BUP-NX cannot be successfully started, it cannot work. We describe the case of a patient who was able to transition to a therapeutic dose of BUP-NX less than 3 hours after his last illicitly manufactured fentanyl use by choosing to self-administer intranasal naloxone. After the naloxone, the transition took 31 minutes, including 14 minutes of expected moderately severe withdrawal. He remains in care with BUP-NX and would recommend this transition approach to others.
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Randall A, Hull I, Martin SA. Enhancing Patient Choice: Using Self-administered Intranasal Naloxone for Novel Rapid Buprenorphine Initiation. J Addict Med. 2023 Mar-Apr 01;17(2):237-240. doi: 10.1097/ADM.0000000000001073. Epub 2022 Sep 22. PMID: 36149001; PMCID: PMC10022654.