Understanding and utilizing buprenorphine in the treatment and short term detox of opioid addiction.

This session of the 2008 NIDA Blending conference featured three presentations about Buprenorphine. The first, by Thomas Freese, is entitled, “Buprenorphine Treatment: A Training for Multidisciplinary Addiction Professionals.” It describes the NIDA/SAMHSA Blending Initiative, and provides an overview of the Addiction Technology Transfer Centers and the CTN. Additionally, it provides a brief history of Buprenorphine and the effects of chronic opioid use. The second half of the presentation focuses on the use of Buprenorphine in the treatment of opioid addiction, studied in two CTN protocols, CTN-0001 and CTN-0002 (Buprenorphine-Naloxone vs. Clonidine for Short-Term Inpatient/Outpatient Opiate Detoxification).

The second presentation of this session, by Mary Ann Detmer, briefly describes the three phases of buprenorphine treatment: induction, stabilization, and medically supervised withdrawal.

The final presentation, by Gregory S. Brigham, is about “Adopting Buprenorphine-Naloxone Short-Term Taper for Medically Managed Opioid Withdrawal.” It describes the process undertaken when Maryhaven, a CTP in the Ohio Valley Node that participated CTN-0001, decided to implement Buprenorphine short-term taper for their patients after the study was completed. It addresses the importance of ongoing monitoring, evaluation, and feedback on provider modifications and interventions.

Related protocols: CTN-0001, CTN-0002