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Buprenorphine in Maintenance Therapy

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Handbook of Methadone Prescribing and Buprenorphine Therapy

Abstract

Although methadone maintenance is a safe and effective treatment for opioid dependence that has been available for many years, its benefits have been limited by the requirement that it be used only in licensed specialized clinics. Treatment options have been substantially expanded by the introduction of buprenorphine for office-based maintenance. Buprenorphine has been shown to be as clinically effective as methadone [1–3] and cost-effective [4, 5], and even to be preferable in some patient populations [6]. In a study of heroin-dependent incarcerated men who were voluntarily randomly assigned to methadone or buprenorphine maintenance, all of the patients in the buprenorphine group stated that they would recommend the medication to others, 93 % of them intended to enroll in buprenorphine treatment after release, and one-quarter of the methadone patients intended to enroll in buprenorphine treatment instead [7].

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health.

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  1. National Institute on Drug Abuse, Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, 251 Bayview Boulevard, Suite 200, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA

    Karran A. Phillips MD, MSc & Kenzie L. Preston PhD

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  1. Karran A. Phillips MD, MSc
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Correspondence to Karran A. Phillips MD, MSc .

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  1. , Dept of Pain Med and Palliative Care, Beth Israel Medical Center, Union Square East 10, New York, 10003, New York, USA

    Ricardo A. Cruciani

  2. , Dept of Pain Mgmt and Palliative Care, Beth Israel Medical Center, East 17th Street 350, New York, 10003, New York, USA

    Helena Knotkova

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Phillips, K.A., Preston, K.L. (2013). Buprenorphine in Maintenance Therapy. In: Cruciani, R., Knotkova, H. (eds) Handbook of Methadone Prescribing and Buprenorphine Therapy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6974-2_11

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