Buprenorphine in ED safe for fentanyl users

A National Institutes of Health multi-site clinical trial showed less than 1% of people with opioid use disorder whose drug use includes fentanyl experienced withdrawal when starting buprenorphine in the emergency department. Published in JAMA Network Open, the results provide strong evidence that buprenorphine ─ an FDA-approved drug to treat opioid-use disorder ─ can safely be initiated in the ED without triggering withdrawal, even for people who use stronger opioids. Some ED clinicians hesitate to use buprenorphine because of concerns of withdrawal, a debilitating experience marked by aches, nausea, vomiting and abdominal cramps that can occur within two hours after receiving the first dose. The study should help to relieve those concerns. (NIH news release, 3/30/23)